Final Fantasy X3: Hidden Fayth
by Child Of The West Wind
Summary: Twenty-two years into the Eternal Calm; the three major organisations are working together in tandem peacefully, but a new group has just emerged, and no one can quite figure out where they stand. Rated for themes and language, better summary inside.
1. Besaid Island

**AN: Heyyy people :) I'm new to this, and while I welcome constructive criticism please don't be too harsh!**

**So this is my own version of X-3, set about twenty years after the ending of X-2. I wanted to have a brief intro with all the character's about their lives and families, but it would have made the first chapter stupidly long so I've settled for each family getting a chapter to themselves. Either way, this one is pretty lengthy in itself (at least I think it is…) We've been recently working on English Lit coursework on analysing descriptive language, which I've tried incorporating here and in other random mini projects I work on, but I dunno if it worked… ;) so please do drop me a review and let me know what you think!**

**To put it briefly (and I promise it will be explained further in later on); The Youth League, The Machine Faction and New Yevon are working in tandem twenty years on, but a new organisation has emerged with an apparent willingness to help out, but no one can quite figure out what their angle is, and it's up to the next generation to figure it out and solve the problems that arise before things can get out of hand. This summary is terrible but I don't want to give too much away yet... ;)**

**Also, there is a character I edited into the first two games in my mind and she's mentioned briefly here, but she will make an appearance in the next few chapters. If you want drop me a message and I can put a little synopsis of her character in my profile to clarify the confusion from my disorganisation xD**

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway shape or form own the copyrights to Final Fantasy X/X-2, including original plots and characters and so on. I do however own anything that does not appear in the original game.**

**_Besaid Island_**

The first thing Yuna was aware of was that the sun was high enough in the sky to slant through the window and strike her sleeping husband in the face. She knew this because the weight on the bed shifted and a moment later he was snuggling up against her back, his cheek pressed against the dip between her shoulder blades, and he grunted something inaudible before settling again.

"It's just some light," she told him, expecting either another grunt or a snore as a response.

"Mmph!" Tidus protested. "S'too early in the morning for light…"

Yuna couldn't help but smile, and opened her eyes to check the time on the little alarm clock perched in the alcove beside their bed. "We should probably get up now," she said, attempting to sit up. "Last day, today!"

"No…" he groaned, grabbing her around the waist and forcing her back onto the bed. "Sleep…"

"Tidus…" she rolled her eyes and tried to coax him out of bed. "You can't skip the last day of school,"

"Watch me…" he mumbled, his head nestled against her stomach as she struggled to disentangle herself from his arms.

"You're being ridiculous!" she swatted him away, all to no effect.

"Hey!" he sat bolt upright when she tweaked his ear painfully between her thumb and forefinger, before she jumped off the bed. He tried and failed to grab her wrist, but he missed her by miles. "Get back here!"

"Up!" she insisted, tugging at the bed covers. "The sooner the day starts the sooner it can end,"

"Can't I just skip the whole thing and go back to sleep?" he whined, rolling over so he had his back to her and huddled in a defiant ball. "I didn't get back till late last night cause Wakka decided we all had to go out celebrate _before_ the actual end of the year. Blame him,"

"No breakfast for _you _then," Yuna said simply, gracefully sitting down on the edge of the bed and smiling at the opposite wall.

While Tidus struggled with the conflicting urges to sleep and to eat, Yuna studied their small room, which was typical of most Besaid homes; it was small and circular, with a domed ceiling above set with a skylight that was covered with a rush mat. The slightly flatter wall, which she was currently facing, was tacked on to the main part of the building, and to the left of their room was their two daughter's room, which was also built as a sort of 'pod' alongside the rooms of the house. It was still a relatively new way of building homes, and compared to the houses in places like Kilika and Luca, they were incredibly small. But, since the inhabitants of the town spent the majority of their time outside, it didn't really matter so much.

Yuna loved their tiny little room; it was so warm and cosy. There was no wardrobe, so instead they hung their clothes on a pole across the corner made by the bunker type bed set into the outer wall. They also had a small chest of drawers, which doubled as a dressing table, with an oversized mirror perched on top amid a sea of objects they had collected over the years: seashells, jewellery, a hairbrush and comb, Yuna's make up, and a selection of photo frames. As well as this, the outer edge of the mirror was plastered with photos of their friends and family. Her absolute favourite one was the one taken just over a year ago; herself, Tidus, and their three children on the banks of the Moon Flow. She remembered that spring break well; they'd gone to Djose to see the light festival, and made a detour to the Moon Flow before heading home. It still brought a smile to her lips when she remembered the expression on her youngest daughter's face as the pyreflies rose as one into the twilit sky, like a living, seething mass of stars.

The weight shifted again, and Tidus crawled over to Yuna, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning against her back, placing a kiss on her throat before conceding. "_Fine_. You win…"

Yuna struggled not to laugh at his defeated tone. "I knew you'd see things my way," she looked down at him, intending to give him a superior smirk, but instead she found herself kissing him. "Come on, those three won't get themselves up…" he at last allowed her to drag him from the safety of their bed and into the full light of the day streaming in through the window.

"You're telling me…" he muttered, yawning widely.

Leaving Tidus to his own devices, Yuna gave her hair a quick brush and threw on a dressing gown before stepping into the main living area of their house. It was a kitchen, dining room and family room all rolled into one compact but spacious sphere, with another three doors spaced at regular intervals in a semicircle along the back wall, with a door at the front, which lead to the village outside. Yuna jumped into the shower in the bathroom and had a quick wash before drying and getting changed. She met Tidus on her way back to their room, still yawning widely; Yuna smiled and threw a clean towel at him.

"It's not _that_ early!"

"It is in _my_ book," he grumbled, shuffling into the bathroom and closing the door behind him quietly.

Still smiling, Yuna started to get breakfast ready, and when Tidus came back out again in a cloud of steam, looking decidedly more cheerful, she left the stove to simmer while to roused the children. She always got the girls up first because they were finished with the bathroom much faster than their brother; so Yuna knocked on their door gently before opening and entering.

Their room was a bit bigger than Tidus and Yuna's, mainly because the girls liked to have their own beds to sleep in; the eldest Bayla had the bed on the floor, tucked away into the side of the room with its foot facing the inner wall, while the younger girl Dekan Memo, or _Deka_ as she preferred to be known as, had the bed above that lay adjacent to the outer wall. Both beds over lapped at the head, with about four of five feet distance between them. With the space that the top bunk gave below, they could fit a small wardrobe in, which both girls shared without argument or complaint. On either side of the room from the door was a desk with cabinets surrounding them, both stylised to each of the occupants' desires; Deka's was painted white with pale blue fish artfully dotted here and there over the old wood, and was packed full of little trinkets from far away places and half finished drawings and stories that she never had the patience to finish.

Bayla's unit, on the other hand, was painted to resemble the jungle, in varying shades of green with stylised animals hiding in the undergrowth. This in turn was concealed in many places by the sheer number of photographs and pictures tacked to the wood; there had to be an image of every place in Spira affixed to this unit. Bayla herself was still fast asleep, tucked up in her bed, as was Deka.

Yuna felt no guilt whatsoever when she pushed the blinds back from the skylight and the window above Bayla's head before shaking her awake.

"Wake up, sweetheart," she said with a smile when Bayla tried to burrow deeper under her blanket.

"Five more minutes…" she begged.

"Come on! We're having omelettes for breakfast,"

"Yippee…"

"I'm up," Deka crawled to the end of her bed and slide down the ladder. "I'll go use the shower first," she yawned once, quite widely, before shaking her messy blonde hair from her eyes. "Morning, mom…" she added as an after thought.

Yuna smiled and kissed her daughter good morning before she bustled off towards the bathroom. Turning her attention back to Bayla, Yuna grabbed the top of the duvet and unceremoniously tore it from the bed. She got a filthy look from her daughter before she dragged herself out of bed and over to her desk where her hairbrush lay.

"I'm up! Happy now?"

"Yes," Yuna smiled, giving her eldest child a hug and kissing her cheek.

Bayla merely rolled her eyes and started brushing her long, chocolate brown hair. She was a stunningly pretty girl, and in a couple of years time she'd be a beautiful young woman, if she wasn't already; Bayla favoured her mother more than her father, although she'd been the spitting image of Tidus when she was about five – then her pretty blonde hair had grown progressively darker until it was the same as Yuna's by the time she was ten. The only thing she still had from those early days were her bright blue, almost turquoise coloured eyes.

Deka was more like her father than Bayla; she had maintained that air about her even though her older sister had somehow grown out of it at such a young age. She had shoulder length blonde hair that had all the natural high and low lights running through it, a cheeky grin (when she was more awake) and an eye that was one third blue, two thirds green while the other eye was merely blue.

Yuna mused over these things as Bayla put her hair up in a messy ponytail and rummaged around for some clothes to wear for the day.

"Last day of the school year," she said with a smile, looking down at Bayla.

She blinked. "Oh yeah, forgot about that for a moment. Woo!" she pumped her fist into the air with a grin. "And then El's coming down to visit, and we're all going to the summer tournament in Luca! _Yes!_" Where Bayla lacked her father's looks, she more than made up for with his personality.

"What lessons do you have today?" Yuna asked, lifting a stone carving of a dolphin from its place on Deka's wooden desk and running a finger along its fin.

"Art and Al Bhed, which should be cut short because of the final assembly," Bayla was wide-awake now. "I can't Vid and I are leaving this year!"

"We all have to fly the nest some day," Yuna reminded her, replacing the dolphin back on its stand.

"I wish I was going this year too," Bayla said bleakly. "To go get a proper job, I mean. It's gonna be so _boring_ without him around!"

"Vidina will come back and visit," Yuna said soothingly. "And I'm sure you can go and visit him too, once he's settled in. And there will be plenty of opportunities for you,"

Tidus stuck his head around the door and announced, "We have an extra mouth to feed this morning! Wakka's been at the stove again…"

Bayla laughed and rushed out into the main living area, still wearing her pink and purple pyjama bottoms with a white tank top. "Vid!"

"Gah!"

Yuna stepped outside as well to find them wrestling their way to the table.

"Get off me!"

"Don't leave us, bitch! You can't just dump me with these dweebs! It's such a tiny island,"

"Okay," Tidus said in a bored tone, peeling Bayla from his godson and pushing her back towards her room. "Break it up, it's too early in the morning for fighting. Wait until _after_ breakfast,"

Yuna laughed, and gave Vidina a hug. "Good morning!"

"Mornin'!" he grinned, shaking his bright red hair from his eyes. "Last day, ya! It's amazing," he enthused.

"Oh!" Tidus ambled over and caught the young man in strangle hold before rubbing his knuckles into his scalp. "And it feels like only yesterday you were this bouncing bundle of baby joy!"

"Hey! Get off! No- hey- Yuna, help me!"

Sadly, Yuna had to go tend to the stove and start cracking eggs, so she was unable to help. The tussle ended however when Deka left the bathroom and got changed; she piled onto the fight as well, and they all settled down onto the long sofa that ran around about a quarter of the room and started chatting about the prospect of the last day.

"I get to try out for the school blitz team next year!" Deka bounced in her seat happily.

"You'll wipe the sphere with Luca High, eh?" Vidina said with a grin, ruffling her hair so that she had to take the clip out from the back and restyle it all over again.

"I can't wait!" she grinned back up at him. "And Bayla's gonna try out for the Aurochs, too! You know, if she can't find anything else to do, but still… Then we can all play blitz together!"

Yuna smiled at the thought. She still did play blitzball, but only a little. When Vidina had been just under a year old, Baralai, Gippal and Nooj put together an initiative to establish at least one school in every major settlement across Spira, that followed the same rough guidelines and curriculum, so that every child had the same opportunity to learn. They were mostly headed by Ex-Summoners, and while Yuna declined the offer to head the school in Besaid, she was quite happy to teach art and music within its walls. The head teacher was a doddering old priest from the temple who was a wonderful person and great with the youth of the village, but wasn't an overly strong figurehead who was always in control. It was Tidus, Wakka, and a couple of other teachers who were the real driving force behind the school. Yuna barely had time for blitzball these days, but her art room was more than sufficient to keep her entertained in the mean time.

All three of her children were fans of the game, and it was her son's dream to become a professional player one day. And speaking of Zuo, he needed to get up now as Bayla would be done with the bathroom soon.

Yuna mentioned this out loud, and Tidus heaved himself to his feet. "I got this one," he assured her, and kicked the door to Zuo's room open. "Up and at'em, kiddo!"

Vidina threw his head back and laughed loudly, stopping only when Bayla swept into the room in her smartest school clothes with her hair still dripping and chucked a cushion at him. The school uniform consisted of a yellow skirt and a pale blue shirt for the girls, with black trousers and either blue or yellow shirts for the boys.

"You sound like a jackal!"

Unperturbed, he grinned and said, "Plenty of those where _I'm_ going!"

"Did you hear back from anywhere then?" Yuna asked, flipping the omelette in the pan over. Bayla stepped up and handed her a plate before she began to set the table. Deka stood up to help as well, and Vidina dutifully followed.

"Yeah, all last night, too! I got an offer from Luca, Guadosalm and Home."

"Oh, wow!" Deka bounced as she set the glasses out for juice. "Home! That's the place you really wanted to go, isn't it?"

"Whey," Bayla said sarcastically, giving him the thumbs up. "You get to spend some quality time with my douche bag cousin. Woot,"

"Bayla," Yuna said sternly.

"Well he is!" she whined, following her like a hawk back to the stove. "There is no denying just how _insufferable_ he is…"

"But it's not polite to point it out, ya?" Vidina said, giving her a dig in the ribs.

Vidina was, in almost every way, the spitting image of Wakka – except for his mother's eyes. He wasn't as into the 'new age' practises as the rest of his generation, preferring to stick by the old traditions upon which Yevon had been built, strictly without the element of betrayal and treachery. He had been teased a bit when he was younger over it, but he steadfastly stuck to his beliefs, and eventually people either saw him for what he truly was, which was a nice, caring, well grounded individual; or just got bored when he didn't react.

Yuna smiled when she thought about it; Vidina's age was sort of a landmark for her, because he had been just a month or so old when Tidus returned. It was hard to think it was really _two decades_ already – and yet there Vidina stood, finally having finished his extended studies at the Temple's school and on his way into machina research.

"When are you leaving for Home?" Yuna asked, dishing up the next omelette and handing it to Deka.

"After the summer tournament. My dad's a bit off with me right now…" Vidina frowned at the thought, and Yuna's heart went out to him. Wakka hadn't been as thrilled as everyone else about him pushing off and leaving Besaid so suddenly for an extended period of time that didn't have a set end date. He had barely finished his formal education, and here he was flying the nest not weeks after…

"Well, Uncle Wakka will just have to live with it," Bayla said flippantly, thrusting a plate under his nose. "Eat. Half day today, wanna go down to the beach later?"

Yuna smiled as they sat down and tucked into breakfast; Bayla had a way of turning the conversation around without much effort. Tidus came back with a grin, shortly followed by Zuo, who was still yawning sleepily; the boy looked a lot like his father, but he had brown hair, much darker than Yuna's or Bayla's, and both his eyes were a bright, emerald green colour. He sat down on of the remaining chairs, and Yuna placed a plate of omelette in front of him, kissing his cheek and saying, "Morning, sweetheart,"

"Thanks, mom," he yawned again, and dug in. He'd been right as rain once he'd eaten something.

"Hey, did you send that sphere off?" Deka said to Bayla, reaching for a glass.

"Yeah, and I sent it to Andi with her letter. I'm hoping it'll actually reach Yas this time…"

"Maybe she just forgot to reply or something," Zuo shrugged. "No biggie."

"She never used to," Bayla countered heatedly. "My messages aren't reaching her, that has to be it. She's way too nice to just ignore me like that,"

"I would," he muttered mutinously.

"I hear ya, brudda," Vidina winked at them both and Bayla scowled.

"Stuff gets as far as Guadosalm. I'm hoping Andi can send it on from there for me."

"Weird, isn't it?" Tidus commented, but from his light tone Yuna knew he was thinking hard about the quandary; there was a slight crease between his eyes. "How its _just_ mail to Bevelle,"

"Life's weird," Bayla sighed dramatically.

"_You're _weird," Zuo said slyly.

"Family trait." She said instantly. "Where'd _you_ think you got it from?"

"I take after mom's side of the family," he said flippantly.

"No hope at all…" Deka said sincerely, making them all laugh. "What?" she demanded sullenly. "All summoner's are weird…ever read the job description?"

"Can't say that I have…"

"Elodie wrote one,"

"Well then, Aunty El as the final word on the matter, doesn't she?" Tidus said, smirking when Yuna whacked him round the back of the head with the oven glove. "Cause El knows everything!"

"She doesn't know the meaning of life," Zuo countered.

"Forty-two," Deka said without hesitation, making them all look at her. "The big question is, what _is _the question?"

"I always thought it was something like 'to marry a Hypello' ya?"

"Rikku's a _very_ bad influence on this lot…" Tidus sighed dramatically. "Maybe your dad's right, don't go to Bikanel. I'm sure you could find a less mind damaging job somewhere else," the debate bounced back and forth for a few minutes while they ate, invariably ending in a good-natured argument.

After breakfast Bayla and Zuo cleared the table and they all grabbed what they would need for the day, which admittedly was very little. Vidina already had his things, and he and Bayla set off ahead of the others, chatting happily about the holidays and the looming tournament; they were followed by Zuo and Deka, who were in the same class seeing as they were fraternal twins, and they were greeted by a few of their friends on the way. Finally, Tidus and Yuna followed, hefting their own bags onto their shoulders and slowly following their children, holding each other's hands.

Yuna smiled as she watched Zuo larking around with his friends, before the five of them started running towards the temple, shrieking loudly in high spirits. Beside, her, Tidus let out a sigh, and looked up at the cloud scudded sky.

"Something wrong?"

"Twenty years…I can't believe it's been that long." He gave her hand a squeeze, his eyes sky turned towards the sky.

Yuna smiled and squeezed back, studying his face as they walked. "And Bayla's finishing this year…it feels unreal…"

"She'll be fine; she's gonna find something to work on and push off without us," Tidus gave her a smile. "Bayla will be fine, she just needs to find her niche. We've still got her for a while, I reckon."

Yuna smiled back in response; he'd barely changed at all in those twenty years she'd had him back, except for the slowly developing crinkles around his eyes from years of smiling and laughing. His skin was as deeply tanned as ever, and his hair was still that beautiful golden colour that Deka had inherited. Yuna was still gazing at Tidus when they reached the school's campus, and he looked down at her with her favourite grin in place.

"Problem?"

"Nope," she smiled back.

"Hey!" Wakka called from somewhere beyond the chain link fence that cornered off the sports facilities from the rest of the buildings. "This court won't set itself up, ya?"

Tidus made a show of rolling his eyes and spun Yuna round in his arms so she was standing before him at close quarters. "You heard the man, better go help before he has my hide…"

Yuna laughed and said, "Have a good morning!"

"See you in the assembly," he kissed her lips briefly before turning back to the impatient tuttings issuing from the sports court. "I'm _coming!_ Yeesh! Hold your chocobos!"

Still smiling to herself, Yuna made her way to the closest building alongside the temple, which housed the art rooms on the ground floor; above that were the music rooms, and on the top floor was the tiny drama studio dominated by a woman who could have given Leblanc a run for her money. Within the art department, there were two classrooms, a large cupboard for storing supplies, a storeroom to house people's finished articles, and a smaller room that doubled as an office of sorts.

Today Yuna was teaching a younger music lesson upstairs when Bayla was having her final art lesson, and then after that she'd be down here for half an hour with the year below her making paper aeroplanes. The other art teacher was already in the office, munching on a banana as she rummaged around in the desk drawers. She was an Al Bhed, with the usual green eyes and blonde hair, and was forever garbed in a painted splattered overall.

"Morning, Hannah," Yuna called as she walked past to her classroom.

"Mmph!" she said through a mouthful of fruit. "Morning, Yuna!" Hannah was a delightful colleague to work with in this department, and Yuna hung round to chat with her for a while before the first bell went and they had to go to their specific classrooms.

There were typically eleven separate year groups in a school, and most children started formal education aged seven – although this varied between places, such as Bevelle that started as young as four. Besaid started teaching children from seven upwards, and each year group was split into four different groups for what they called 'form time'. This was basically morning and afternoon registration, and also known as homeroom. There were also four so-called 'houses' to which one form from each year group belonged to, which (in theory) created friendly competition between the children. They were named after four of the High Summoners: Gandof, Ohalland, Yucon, and Braska. Surprisingly enough, Yuna's form was 6B, short for year six _Braska_; she had the majority of the twelve year olds under her wings, and for the most part the children adored her – not because she was the High Summoner of The Eternal Calm, but because she was considered one of the best form tutors in the school on account of her unending patience and willingness to bend over backwards for the children in her care. And it was on those grounds that she was a valued member of the community.

Yuna was already in her form classroom in the music department, writing out in block capitals 'LAST DAY OF 6B!' across the white board as her students trickled in. Since Besaid was still a small town in comparison to larger settlements like Luca, the average size of a form was five students, and there were only around two hundred and thirty children at the school in total, some of which came from small, backwater islands south of Besaid who lived in the temple during the semester. Yuna had seven children; four girls and three boys, five of which lived in the temple.

They came in and saw the stash of bags underneath her desk and the writing on the board, and became very excited. Yuna had to calm them down, call the register and give them the itinerary for the day; they'd be going to the first three lesson slots on their timetable before coming back here for ten minutes, and then the final assembly before spending the last forty minutes of the school year with their tutor. Yuna had some goody bags made up for them, and they were going to doodle over the board and take some photos before they left her form for good. She'd done this with each class she'd taken every year, and it was just one more reason why the kids loved her.

"So we all know where we're going?" Yuna checked, knowing one of the less bright girls would have missed something.

Sure enough, the shy girl raised her hand and stuttered, "W-what lessons were we going to again, miss?"

Luckily, one of the boys who was sat at the back of the room on a desk, swinging his legs back and forth and gazing out of the window was in her lessons that morning, so Yuna kindly attached her to him so she wouldn't get lost; he didn't mind in the least, and Yuna waved her form off for the morning before preparing for her music class with the top set in year eight.

XOXOX

"Pass to Joey!"

"Hey, I'm _wide open!_"

"Go on Tamil, get in there!"

"Whoa! Red card, dude!"

Tidus had to blast his whistle to make himself heard over the din, and then had to wave the protests away as everyone complained to him.

"Sir, that was a foul!"

"Didn't you see that?"

"Aw, dude come off it!"

"All right, pipe down!" Tidus said, grabbing the ball from the offending player and waving him away. "Blue team has a free pass at the goal. Line up, on your markers!"

The rabble of year nine PE students lined themselves up along the edge of the outdoor court and stared intently at the ball as Tidus passed it to the blue team's captain. The sixteen year old smirked at the rival red team's captain and got into the ready position. It was the last game they'd play together as year nine's, and many of the students were dropping the subject for next year, so the pressure was on to make the most of their final lesson with their favourite teacher. Not that Tidus believed for a moment that they always loved him; he had to whine and bitch at the older kids to get them to do what he wanted, but once they were on his side they got so much work done, and had a lot of fun along the way. This year group was especially strong, and some of the droppers were trying for the blitz team next year so Tidus would still be teaching them. But for now, they lived only for the mock tournament game.

"Ready?" Tidus yelled across the court, raising the whistle to his lips. "On your mark. Get set…" he blew into it, and the blue captain tore down the court like a lightning bolt and hurtled towards the goal. He dodged the other team's attackers and made a flawless score, which made him disappear under a pile of teammates hugging him. "Ready positions. C'mon, people, we only have six minutes left!" That had them in a frenzy to get back into their play positions. In reality, they had fourteen minutes because they had to pack up and change back into their uniforms, but time was always of the essence with this class.

The two captains went to the centre of the court and stared each other down; both tall and of athletic build, one dark haired and the other blonde, both looking to win this final battle and Tidus' 'grand prize' of the year.

Tidus stood alongside them, and held the ball out right under their noses, whistle clamped between his teeth. He slowly lowered it to give himself some leverage before he flung it up into the air with another shrill blast that pierced their eardrums. Red team's captain barely touched the ball with his fingertips but managed to edge it into his half of the court, and the attack on blue goal was on.

Everyone was yelling encouragement and hurling insults at each other in great spirit; Tidus was shouting over it all, somehow maintaining order and getting them all to score three goals in the space of five minutes. After that, a buzzer rang out from the wall of the changing room complex to signal the end of the game. Before they could rub it too much into each other's faces and start a fight, Tidus called them all over for a final group huddle.

"Guys," he said, producing a pen from his pocket and holding their ball out. "I'm so proud of you. You've been an honour to teach this year, you're all got _excellent_ grades, you're written work is amazing, and you have to be one of the strongest groups of players I've taught yet. And since some of you are dropping this class now," here a few sheepish and heartbroken expressions emerged, making his grin widen, "I want each of your signatures so we can all look back years from now on how awesome you guys are!"

There was a volley of woots and cheers from the boys as the ball was passed around and they each signed it with a flourish. When it came back to Tidus he tucked it under his arm and waved them off to the changing rooms.

"Don't run off once your changed! Stop by the office first," and with that he dismissed them.

Back inside the pokey sports office, Wakka was sorting out an order for new sports kit from the school's team of seamstresses. "How many we expecting for the team next year?" he wondered aloud as Tidus carefully placed the newly signed ball into a cabinet in the far corner.

"Twenty for the try outs, but we can only take twelve."

"Seven team, five subs…Kay, got it!"

Tidus placed a cardboard box on the desk and threw the small packets of sweets into it before dumping a load of wood shavings from the Tech department. In all honesty, he should have had this done last night, and when that failed before the first bell that morning, but he had been lazy over it and decided now was the best time. He made sure it was all mixed up and spread evenly before the guys arrived, which was just as well he'd got it done first and foremost as his class all got changed in record time and were standing as one outside the office in a neat and orderly line.

"Hey, Captain Wakka!" Tidus leant out of the door and made a show of looking surprised. "One whole year, and they finally learnt to line up properly! Get in here guys, I've got something for you!"

Wakka laughed and got up as the group traipsed inside and squeezed themselves up against the wall. Tidus gestured grandly to the box on the desk and said, "Our little way of saying thank you for putting up with all the abuse we give you. Enjoy!"

The boys all laughed and as one descended upon the box with relish. Sixteen year olds didn't normally appreciate childish things like a lucky dip, but when it was Tidus and Wakka, they accepted, and indeed often _expected_ it. When everyone had grabbed something, they came forward to shake their teachers hands, and the ones who were dropping the class expressed their deep regret and even deeper wish to be on the team.

"Try outs are the first week of the next semester," Tidus reminded them before they left. "So train hard over the summer! How many of you are going to see the tournament next week?"

Everyone shouted out the affirmative, and they eventually had to kick the students out at the sound of the bell for form time.

"All right," Wakka said, all but throwing the boys from the office. "Beat it, ya? We got other places to be, and so do you!"

"What's our goal!" Tidus yelled, jumping into the middle of the circle and pumping his fist in the air.

The resounding chorus of "VICTORY!" nearly deafened them all, and he found himself at the bottom of a scrum as everyone tried to hug him at once.

"Go on, get out of way! Scram!" Tidus laugh, ruffling hair and playfully pushing people away from the office. "Your tutors would kill me if I held you up,"

"It's Sir Jonan," one of the larger boys drawled loudly. "Who _cares_?"

"_I_ care if he comes after me with a bag full of homemade poison grenades," Tidus said, making a show of waving them away. "Go on, I'm sick of looking at you already. Shoo!"

The boys ultimately left with a final laugh, leaving the office in momentary silence. Wakka laughed and asked, "What about your homeroom?"

"I'm on it," Tidus assured him, grabbing his keys and another bag from behind the desk. "See you at the assembly!" he yelled over his shoulder, running to the other end of the school to get to his form class. His was situated at the top of the block that taught language and math, and his group of year elevens, the infamous 11O including Vidina, were waiting impatiently for him. "Sorry guys!" he called, throwing the keys to the girl nearest the door, not even trying to push past the kids. "Open it up, Katy. Go on in,"

"Aw, Sir! Why you so late?" someone jeered.

"Year nine's final class. I'm losing most of them next year!" he made a show of being indignant. "I can't just abandon them on the last lesson!"

"What about us?" the tallest boy demanded, about as tall as a young Ronso although not quite as broad shouldered. "Don't you love us anymore?"

"Hey, you're the ones swanning off without me, here!" Tidus reminded them with a laugh. "Okay, everyone inside. Move it, Stace!"

Stacey ran past Vidina with a shriek as he tugged at her long blonde plait. "Hey, Blondie-!"

"Vid, move it or lose it." Tidus said, shoving him through the door.

"Hey!"

"Park it, the lot of you! Wanna waste what precious little time we have left?" he black mailed them emotionally, and they all sat down in their favourite perches, mostly on the desks rather than chairs. "Right! We got everyone?" Tidus scanned the room and counted out seven heads. "Where's Rayland?"

"Getting a drink," Stacey said in her vague toned voice. "I think…" she added, biting her lip.

"Okay, we'll assume he's still here somewhere," Tidus ticked everyone else off the register, and once he was done Rayland ran into the room, completely out of breath. "So nice of you to join us! Have a seat," Tidus nodded at the tabled in front of the desk, the so-called 'naughty table' where the later comer had to do the sit of shame and face everyone else, subjected to a pop quiz on a topic of the majority's choice as punishment. "Kay gang! What'll it be today?"

"Ancient history!

"No! Weapons and tactics!"

"Bo_ring_! Pop music!"

"Yeah, do that!

"Do it!"

Tidus stood up and raised his hands like a master conductor and silence fell. "The mob has spoken!" he pointed at a red haired girl called Gail and said, "Go!"

"Who was at the top of the charts this week?" she said to Rayland.

"Aw, crap!" he shot a glare at Tidus, who smiled innocently and inspected the watchstrap bound to his wrist. "Err…_The Syndicates_?"

"Which song was it?" shouted out another boy who was _the _fountain of random knowledge.

"I dunno!" Rayland flustered. "_Someday_?"

"Wrong!" he was pelted with a screwed up ball of paper. "_Clear Skies_! What's the top selling single of all time?"

"_Thousand Words_,"

"No! _Real Emotion_,"

"No it's not you idiot! Its _Windfall_'s _Bright Star_, dumbass,"

"What planet have _you_ been living on, Kaoru?"

The rest of the allocated form time was spent debating which had been the greatest single of all time, and Tidus let Rayland's penalty slide. When the bell for assembly rang out they all got up to leave, and Rayland hung back to apologise to Tidus.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Tidus clapped him on the back and grinned. "Last day, won't hold it against you. Come on, let the boredom commence!"

Rayland laughed, and they nine of them set off down stairs and towards the sports hall. Tidus looked around the group of kids, all eighteen, and Vidina and another guy named Toby older than that. They were a close-knit group, one that he'd miss next year; 11O wouldn't be the same without his bawdy, loud form group in the autumn. He especially liked this year group because of the banter that ensued each registration, and the endless inside jokes that only their year understood after the myriad of organised trips they took together. Each year, it was always hard to let the young adults go, and it was possibly harder than ever this year because Vidina was at last leaving too, as well as Bayla. Vidina had hung back for two extra years to get qualifications in each of the available subjects to try and better his chances of being accepted for research and fieldwork.

The boy was bright, if not that academic, but he worked well with other people, and his interests covered a wide spectrum so he almost always found a topic he could discuss with a stranger. He'd won this school so many blitz matches, and done all his teachers proud; he'd also been in Tidus' form group for three years in a row. And finally, he flew the nest, off on his own grand adventure in life…

If Tidus wasn't carefully he might just fail to swallow his pride, and burst into tears. But he hid it behind trading insults with the guys and teasing the girls, and then calling for them all to shut up before they entered the hall. "You're still part of this community," he reminded them at the door. "So try and set an example, will you? Makes my job a hell of a lot easier,"

The smirks he got as they filed inside weren't that convincing. They went to the stands right at the back with the rest of their year, and Tidus slid into the chairs along the side of the hall beside Wakka, nudging him as he sat down and glancing up at the empty podium with a resigned expression. Wakka merely chuckled and went back to watching the students arrive in small groups. The first Tidus knew of Yuna's arrival was when she poked him under the ribs from the row behind, and he yelped loudly, causing the kids towards the front of the hall to look round in surprise.

"Haha," he said sarcastically as the art teacher Hannah failed to cover up her snort of laughter, "Very funny!"

Yuna tipped him a playful wink and sat down at the very end of the row with the other airy-fairy subject teachers and start gossiping. Wakka sighed heavily, tearing Tidus' attention from his wife and back to the present.

"Hmm?"

"Here we go…"

Their residing head, the illustrious Father Gilgamesh in the prime of his old age, tottered up to the podium and cleared his throat. It took the combined effort of teachers and older, more diligent students to quieten everyone down before the speech could begin.

"Well, it doesn't seem possible that another year has passed," Gilgamesh began, and Tidus began to tune out. "And we have surpassed it with flying colours! Three out of five sports tournaments, we have won…"

Wakka elbowed Tidus in the ribs with a smug expression, and he grinned back. Wakka was _the_ best coach when it came to the small time school leagues. Tidus himself coached up the larger teams for the big leagues held in Luca and Bevelle, as well as them both training the Aurochs in the mean time.

The speech waffled on for about ten minutes, and the rest of the audience – teachers included – began to fidget. Eventually, Gilgamesh turned to the teachers stand with a warm smile and said, "And I do believe our year eleven form tutors have a little something for our leavers this year," he stepped down and clapped unnecessarily, which brought on a round of applause and cheers from the students.

Tidus, along with the four other tutors got up and walked to the front of the crowd. Each year they took it in turns to talk to the congregation, and it was Tidus' turn to make the speech. He lent against the lectern and grinned up at everyone before he began. "Well, I think our head's said it all!" he always did…more or less. "We've had a great year all round, and especially for blitz. I'd like to have our two captains for squads A and B up to collect their shield for the sheer awesomeness of their performance this year,"

Vidina and another boy named Harvey both picked their way through the crowd, amid more cheers and clapping. They reached the front where Harvey's tutor presented them with the wooden plaque cut in the shape of a shield, with their names and the date of their captaincy engraved on one of the small tablets around the outside. The two boys grinned as they shook his and Gilgamesh's hands, and stood neatly side-by-side when Wakka motioned for them to stay put.

"I'd also like to ask all our sports teams to come up to receive their medals," Tidus spoke again, looking towards the crowd and watching as the kids looked from one to the other and tentatively stood up in front of all their peers and climbed over to the front of the hall. Bayla stopped short of sticking her tongue out at Tidus as she was given her medal, and started pulling faces at her brother in the audience; it made everyone laugh when Tidus flicked her ear, and made her flush furiously before she resorted to giving him evils. Unconcerned, Tidus turned back to the students and said, "We've had an almost undefeated season this year, and we hope to have you guys back again next year for a repeat. You rule!" he fist pumped the air, making the younger kids laugh and the older ones roar their approval. Tidus grinned when he caught Yuna rolling her eyes from the sidelines, though she couldn't squash that silly little smile.

The only female tutor for the year elevens, a Guado named Haruhi, nonchalantly pushed Tidus aside and said, "Thank you, Sir Tidus, for your eloquent and stirring words of wisdom," this had the audience howling with laughter, and Tidus just grinned and laughed the friendly rivalry off. As well as competition between the students, there was also friendly enmity between the staff too. "We would like to present our goal keeper from B Squad with the blitzball from the semi-final match against Kilika, for her outstanding save that won us a secure place in the finals. So, Terry, if you would like to come forward,"

Tidus bent down to pick up the ball, pre-signed by team, and handed it to Haruhi, who presented it with solemn dignity to a grinning Terry, who shook both their hands and bounced back to her team mates, only to disappear beneath the myriad of hugs from both squads. Everyone burst into rapturous applause and the sports teams bowed before running back to their class mates with grins and a chorus of cheers following them.

Haruhi clapped loudly from the podium and shouted over the noise, "Train well over the summer, and we'll be glad to see you back again next year. To our year elevens, all the best of luck! It's been a pleasure to have you play for us,"

The teachers all sat down again, and Gilgamesh began what he clearly thought was a motivational speech, but what really started sending Tidus to sleep. He spoke of the coming of age, of having to spread your wings, follow your heart – the usual crap. It would have been more impressive and useful if he didn't use such archaic language and drone on in his sleep inducing tones. One-to-one, this man was an utter legend, but to the masses in the sports hall…he was the stuffiest, most boring old man in the whole of Spira.

When the words, "Fare thee well!" accompanied with a raised hand and a warm smile were said, a smattering of applause broke out, and four of the year elevens – including Vidina and Bayla – jumped to their feet and ran to the front to claim the lectern.

The other girl, a preppy sort by the name of Grace brushed her dark hair out of her eyes and smiled up at the congregation before delivering her own speech. She had a much more engaging voice, the sort that made you want to sit up and pay attention. "As you know, the year elevens are leaving this year and most of us are moving on to bigger things." She nodded at Vidina and the other boy, Tommy. "Some of us are going to further education in places like Bevelle and Guadosalm. And some of us are going straight into jobs to further aid Spira in a still relatively new age of discovery. This we have done off our own backs, and we will be reaping the rewards for years to come," here Grace glanced down for a moment to fidget with the piece of paper on the podium before she looked up to meet the eyes of her audience, all hanging on her every word. "But we could not have done all of this without the help of our teachers, who have given us the tools we need to carve our own paths in life. We have all been through this school, from start to finish, and every step of the way our teachers have been there to help us spread our wings and fly, while holding out the safety net to catch us if we fall short of the goal, so that we won't fail when we strike out on our own. So my friends and I would like to ask each head of department to come up so we can thank them individually."

Wakka and Tidus exchanged startled looks. There was no real head of the sports department, since they relied heavily on each other to get things done, so they sort of just cohabited the office and shared duties. On the other hand, Haruhi was the head of Science and Math, Hannah of Tech, a man called Cain for Languages, and Yuna for the Arts. As the others stood up and came forward, Tidus and Wakka fought to throw the other up into the limelight. Tidus had already stood up and had his say, and felt that Wakka should go – while Wakka wanted to hide and force him to go up instead. In the end, Yuna made the decision for them by grabbing both of them by the wrist and dragging them behind her.

Each teacher was presented with a card, signed by all their leavers students, and the men got bottles of wine while the women were presented with flowers. Apparently, Tidus and Wakka were expected to go up together, as Tommy turned and announced to the school at large, "We've heard how well our teams have done this year, and we owe them many thanks – but the truth is we'd _never_ have made it as far as we did without our coaches' dedication and effort into training sessions, going as far as rescheduling so that the science students could do their practicals after school and didn't have to sacrifice their other subjects. I don't know about you, but I think they deserve a big round of applause," he stood back, raising his hands into the air, and the resounding roar of approval was accentuated by the standing ovation they received.

Vidina pulled a face at his father as Grace handed over the joint card and gave both men a hug; Bayla gave her father a sarcastic look before giving Wakka a hug and pointedly steering clear of Tidus. The grin that spread across her face negated the sting of the action, and Tidus just pulled a face at her, making everyone laugh, since it as the usual course of action between the two of them

Grace went back to the lectern and signalled for quiet so she could make the next announcement. "As well as Sports, we've done exceedingly well in the arts this year too. We made it to the final stages of the Bevelle Music Festival and lost by the skin of our teeth to Djose before the final round, and we wouldn't have made it as far as we did without one person in particular," she paused for effect to smile, and Tidus knew where this was going. He shot Yuna a grin before Grace could continue, and almost laughed when she tried to shuffle behind Hannah out of sight.

"She worked so long and hard on musical and dress rehearsals, and was always mindful of other commitments, and did her utmost to make sure we never had to chose between them. She put so much effort into organising the routines and making sure we always had a place to practise and the means to practise by. So if we could give Lady Yuna another round of applause for being the best Arts teacher ever and show our appreciation,"

And then came the next standing ovation; Yuna looked like she might burst into tears when more people trickled to the front to show their thanks and hand her three different bundles of flowers. When they finally let her go, the cheers died down and the staff went back to their seats, he saw a single tear glistening on her cheek. Tidus caught her as they reached their seats, putting an arm around her waist and kissing her briefly with a smile and saying, "Told you so!" in a whisper before letting her sit down. Her blush was both endearing and attractive; another reason to tease her later on.

A final fare well from the head, and they were all dismissed back to homeroom for a final forty minutes before clearing off for the summer. Tidus was met by his form at the door after the younger years had vacated the hall, all grinning unrepentantly.

"You're all sneaky and underhanded!" he accused, throwing an arm around the shoulders of those closest to him. "Don't ever change, guys!"

They went back to their form room for the last time together, and spent their remaining time reminiscing and throwing the banter back and forth. It was a great time, and Tidus got them all to sign his and each other's yearbooks. At the end, he gave them all their little cupcakes which Deka had painstakingly helped him write their names on in icing three days ago.

The final act was to set the camera on self-timer and throw themselves into a silly pose before they were all sent from the classroom for the last time.

"We'll still come back!" Rayland insisted. "My parents live here, so I'll have to come home for the holidays!"

"Yeah!" Kaoru insisted. "What's a few hundred miles of open ocean among friends, ya?"

"Thanks, Sir!" Gail gave Tidus yet another hug. "You've been an awesome tutor this year!"

"And you've been an awesome form," he grinned, at them, feeling his emotions get the better of him.

"Aww!" someone cooed.

"He's gonna _cry_," someone exclaimed in disbelief.

"Group hug!" Vidina thundered and threw himself at Tidus.

It all proved too much; he couldn't stop the first couple of tears in time, and about half a dozen hands thrust handkerchiefs and tissues into his face.

"Hey, it's supposed to be used for the _nose_, not to be _eaten_!" Gail said incredulously. "Stop stuffing it down his throat!"

"Good luck guys," Tidus said, still grinning despite his moment of humiliation. "You'll all do well in life, just remember," he took up his coach stance and held his arm out in his favourite gesture. "Work hard, _play hard_!"

When at last they all drifted away across the small playground, Tidus allowed himself another moment of weakness to wipe his tears away, only to jump in surprise again when Yuna snuck up on him. He smiled down at her, and pulled her into a proper embrace.

"Hey!" Wakka thumped him on the back, mischief in his eyes as he said innocently. "Every year we go through this!"

Tidus shrugged, still struggling with the thought that his form was flying the school nest for good. The upside was that Bayla wasn't leaving them _just_ yet…

"Every time you turn over a leaf and promise not to get so over emotional! And yet you still can't bare to see them go," Wakka laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.

Tidus worked the thick emotion into his voice for effect and said, "They just grow up so quickly!" and made a show of wiping the tear from under his left eye and flicking his finger so the water droplet dissipated in the air.

Yuna laughed and kissed his cheek. "Come on, I'm hungry,"

They left the campus, laughing together and discussing plans for next week when Elodie would be arriving. El was an old friend of theirs, one of the rare members of the Zandal People of the north who had decided to live permanently further south, and who was forever on research trips for Rikku's team based in Home. She'd been Yuna's first official guardian, and was also Bayla's godmother; sometimes Elodie only stayed for a day or so at a time, and at others she stayed for much longer, but she always had to leave again. She had also promised Tidus she'd be there at the tournament this year to cheer the Aurochs on. The last few years, they had held an impressive winning streak, but the last couple they'd just fallen short of the finishing line. In her own words, it was embarrassing to admit to the other researchers that she was a diehard Auroch fan. "_So hurry the hell up and win already!_" she called down the patchy com link last they'd spoken.

"Hey!"

Tidus looked up when the blitzball struck his shoulder from the vague direction of the Summoner's Circle. It was Tommy, and the rest of the blitz teams, already out of their uniforms and in their patchy gym clothes.

"Wha'd'ya want _now_?" he drawled, bending down to scoop the ball up. Once he'd stood up he flicked his wrist lazily and propelled the ball back to Vidina. "I thought I'd gotten rid of you for good!"

"One more round!" Tommy insisted. "Down on the beach! Wha'd'ya say, eh?"

"For old times sake, ya?"

"Please!"

"Come on, dad. You don't want to lose to us _again_ do you?" Bayla said teasingly, stretching her arms lazily above her head. "Its okay to admit that you're getting too old for this…"

Tidus raised an eyebrow, and looked back at Yuna and Wakka. He seemed all for it, and Yuna merely laughed, slipping his bag form his shoulder and slinging it across her own.

"Don't stay out too long," she said, kissing his cheek.

"Dad!" Bayla threw the ball back to him, and he caught it one handed. "C'mon, let's _go_ already!"

"Oh, all right!" Tidus made a show of caving in and jogged over to meet them, amid a roar of approval from the guys. "Twist my arm, why don't you!"

They were singing his praises until Tidus dropped the ball and booted it over the horizon. "On the double!" he shouted, and they all launched themselves after it.

"Last one there's fiend chow!" someone yelled, and they ran for the gates to the town, shrieking with laughter.

From behind them Tidus could hear Wakka pounding after them, Yuna's laughter over the general din, and Bayla ran up alongside him. Her grin might as well have been his own, as was the spark of mischief in her eyes.

"Bet I can run faster than you!"

"Bet'cha can't!"

"Oh yeah?" Bayla smirked, faltered for a moment with her stride before settling into a much faster rhythm, and pulled ahead and away from him at a quicker pace. "Eat my dust!"

"Hey! Get back here, missy!"

"Ha ha!"

"Watch out!" someone yelled as the ball was thrown into the air again.

"Heads up!" Wakka shouted, and Vidina jumped high into the air and headed the ball so that it went flying ahead of the group.

"Run away blitzball!"

"Just shut up and run!"

Tidus was sure the next year elevens would grow into their own in time, and that this year's would go on to do brilliantly in life. The fact that he'd had a hand in shaping their futures for the better should have been enough, but it was still hard to let your students go after everything you went through with try outs and tournaments and so on throughout the year. Still moments like this always made it worthwhile in the end.

But Wakka _did_ have a point…what was he going to do when his own children eventually became ready to leave? Tidus wasn't so sure he was ready to let his little girl go, even if she could out pace him in nearly everything these days.

XOXOX

"They do this," Lulu mused to herself. "Every year."

"Those two are impossible…" Yuna shook her head with a smile.

Tidus and Wakka were still surrounded by their year elevens, even now at well past ten o'clock at night, sitting by the fire and still nattering away like old women. Lulu turned her attention away from them and back to Deka, who was seated on the ground beside the log she and Yuna were perched on. Lulu had been trying to teach Deka how to weave straw baskets, but she wasn't having much success.

"I can't do it!" Deka said, dropping it dejectedly and staring morosely into the fire nearby.

"Here," Lulu picked the offending mass of mangled straw and inspected it closely. "See?" she showed it to Deka. "This is where you went wrong. If you thread it through here…" she rectified the problem, and passed it back to her. "There. Now you try,"

Deka frowned deeply with concentration as she tried to follow Lulu's lead. Yuna smiled and stroked her daughter's hair. "See? No such thing as 'I can't' is there?"

"Well," Deka poked the straw through the next gap, and flipped the whole article over only to discover another kink she'd missed before. "Technically there _isn't_ such a word as _can't _because it's an abbreviation of _can_ and _not_. So no, there's not."

Lulu indulged herself in a smile over the young girl, and looked between her and Yuna's face. Deka looked a great deal more like her father, but there was that certain light in her eyes that reminded Lulu of a young Yuna; the same wonder and determination to get things right, not because she wanted to look good but because she wanted to prove to herself she could do it.

"Hey, I think I got the hang of this now!" Deka said excitedly, brandishing the half made basket under Lulu's nose.

The older woman smiled and put a hand on hers, lowering the basket so that Deka could take a closer look. "Not quite," she pointed out one too many kinks on the outside. "Don't get ahead of yourself," she said soothingly when the girl's face fell. "If you get over confident you'll get sloppy. Do it _slowly_," she demonstrated before setting Deka back to task.

"I can _do_ this," she muttered to herself, fiddling with the fraying ends of the straws. "I _know_ I can do this,"

From somewhere nearby, a guitar started playing, and Lulu recognised the tune. She looked up again, with another smile, and saw Bayla perched on the branch of an overturned tree, guitar in hand and slowly strumming the intro to her favourite melody. The rest of the blitzers stopped their banter to listen, as did the rest of the villagers. Bayla looked up over the deliberate pause in the notes to grin at Vidina before she started strumming and picking the strings in perfect succession. When she looked down again to check on Deka's progression, she saw that the girl was sitting and watching her older sister wistfully.

"Why don't you take a break?" Yuna said gently, plucking the basket from Deka's hands. "Go sit with Bayla,"

Deka grinned and scrambled to her feet with great haste. She was met by Zuo only a few paces from where Lulu and Yuna sat, and they both ran over to Bayla in a rush. Tidus grinned and set Deka on the lowest branch of the upright tree he was leaning against, so that her feet dangled at about his waist height; Zuo scuttled onto the available space beside Bayla on the dead tree, and sat in rapt attention, focusing just on the sound issuing from the guitar.

That instrument had been a joint birthday present from Elodie, Lulu and Wakka, Rikku, Tidus and Yuna, and Cid; it was of Al Bhed make, in a beautiful dark but deep blue wood, inlaid with shell and mother of pearl around the sound hole. Set into the main body of the guitar were little mother of pearl fish, and right at the top of the neck where the pegs held the strings in place, an archaic Al Bhed symbol for _Peace_ was delicately crafted into the wood – Bayla's name sake. It had been given to her for her sixteenth birthday, and Elodie had plans for her nineteenth this December, which she was being purposefully vague about.

"She's very good at that now, isn't she?" Lulu said aloud, watching Yuna's expression, which was just as enraptured as her son's.

"Yes," Yuna smiled but didn't look up. "She's been practising so much the last couple of months on that piece. Guess it all paid off,"

"She's a very determined girl," Lulu mused to herself, considering all three of Yuna's children.

"They all are," Yuna corrected her. "But that's good," she added. "They all want to be known for their own doings, not just what we've done."

Lulu smiled at this, and looked up as Bayla began playing another, more bouncy tune. She would have liked to have a daughter of her own, but she had never had a child after Vidina, and the two families were so close anyway that being 'Aunty Lulu' was the next best thing.

Nineteen that winter…it just didn't seem, possible. She voiced this, and Yuna finally tore her attention away from the girl playing the guitar to look at Lulu. "I don't know where the time's gone," Yuna admitted, somewhat sheepishly. "It's as though one moment she's a bump," she motioned to her flat stomach, "the next she's a lump," her arms cradled thin air as her eyes wandered back to Bayla. "And then…" she shrugged, unable to find the right words.

"Has Bayla had anymore thoughts on where she'd like to go now?" Lulu asked.

Again, Yuna shrugged, and gave an exasperated sigh. "No. She doesn't know what she wants… Every day there's a new possibility, either a songstress or a researcher or a chocobo herder or a hover driver or _something_… No," she shook her head. "Bayla will find the right thing eventually. Until then, we're just going to have to put up with all the noise," as she said this, Bayla struck up a traditional Besaid drinking song, and it seemed that everyone around that fire started singing loudly and raucously along to it.

Lulu laughed while Yuna hung her head in her hands.

"Damn her father…"

"She is just so like him though," Lulu smiled. "Isn't she?"

"To my never ending horror…" Yuna leant forward, propping her chin up on her hands, elbows on her knees. "I like to think I'm in there too, but it just seems less and less likely everyday…"

"She's more like you than either of you would care to admit," Lulu said levelly, thinking that she'd have to grab Wakka and Vidina to go home before too long. They had to be up bright and early for training tomorrow morning, and Tidus had been complaining about Wakka blackmailing him into staying out late the last couple of nights.

"You really think so?" Yuna asked, looking up at Lulu.

The older woman however kept watching Bayla as her son ambled over and tried to prise the instrument from her hands. "I know so,"

"Hey!"

"I want a go, ya?"

"Get your own! Hey! It's _mine_! Give it back-!"

"Hey, dad!" Vidina carried his prize away and threw the strap around his neck. "How do I look?"

"Like a goon," Zuo jeered, and Bayla neatly pushed him off the tree branch.

"Give it back, Vidina!"

"Haha, shortie!"

"Give…it…_back!_"

Yuna laughed in a loud, carefree sort of way, and she stood up. "I suppose _some_one has to diffuse the situation,"

Lulu smiled, and looked up at the star spangled sky as Yuna walked away. In spite of the argument that was slowly getting out of hand, Besaid Island, and its slow growing community was peaceful in the light, nighttime breeze rolling off the ocean.

An Eternal Calm.

Over two decades, and still some hardly dared to hope it was a reality.

Through the sweat, blood and tears they'd all shed to get here, Lulu reflected as she watched Tidus deftly pick Bayla up and throw her over his shoulder to stop her from trying to attack Vidina; it was all worth it in the end, for this. Every ounce of pain, every biter tear shed, every lonely hour…

To have the friends and family you thought you could never have – yes, it was worth every moment.

XOXOX


	2. Bevelle Citadel

**AN: I tried to work a bit more of the later plot into this chapter to get the storyline rolling, but it might be a little long winded…feedback would be greatly appreciated and I'd love to hear your thoughts :)**

**Hopefully when I get round to it the next chapter will be set in Bikanel, and then after that the tournament itself, but I'll have to wait and see how the ball rolls.**

**Enjoy! :)**

_**Bevelle Citadel**_

"I have a message for you," Baralai said, placing something down beside Yasmine's books. "Just arrived from Guadosalm. Looks like a compilation…"

Yasmine lowered her pen and picked up the sphere, which had a scribbled note attached to the underside of it from her friend Andi. It read: _Sorry this took so long to get to you! The twins send their love but not a message cause I hear there's a REALLY bad sandstorm up their way at the moment. Bayla and Vidina say hi! Andi x x x _

"I wonder what it is," Yasmine mused, standing up from her favourite desk in the library by the window, and gazing out of the glass panes at the sprawling city below.

Her father chuckled and followed her to the window, following her gaze; the red rooftops of Bevelle spread for miles in all directions, hovering above the water line that was hidden from this angle. "Probably about the tournament this year. Twenty years is a long time to keep a three way partnership going without any major hitches," he reminded her.

"Yes," Yasmine rolled the sphere from hand to hand, feelings its warm weight and smooth surface between her fingertips. "I'm rather excited as well, if I'm honest."

"Is that so?" she could hear the smile in her father's tone.

"Yes. I haven't seen Bayla in so long!" she smiled as she thought of the girl, tall and gangly with pretty brown hair and eyes the colour of a calm ocean. They'd played all the time together as children, along with Wakka and Lulu's son Vidina. He'd always been such a happy, smiley character whenever she'd seen him, but of course they hadn't seen each other for years now. The occasional sphere or brief com link wasn't really enough to keep a friendship alive.

"You look troubled," Baralai hedged, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's just that…" she sighed heavily and looked up to meet his gaze. She was shorter than him by several inches. "I do wonder…what they are up to. And whether they remember me…"

"Of course they do. They just have other things on their minds right now, like the end of their school year and preparing for the tournament. I hear the Aurochs will be the team to watch this year,"

"Yes," Yasmine said, trying not to get frustrated as he walked away from the window, across the room and to the door, passing the over stuffed chairs and mahogany panelled walls without a second glance. "But I doubt they really think of me all that often…I don't get to spend time just being a normal teenager." It was very hard indeed to not sound like a spoiled brat as she said this. It wasn't like she wasn't _grateful_ for the life her parents had given her, but still…she often found that she wished for something more relaxed…

Baralai walked back over to her, smiling as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "When you see them again in Luca, you'll wonder why you let yourself get so worked up over it in the first place. Come on, let's go find some lunch. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry,"

Yasmine allowed him to distract her for about an hour before she excused herself from the kitchens under the pretences of getting some work done. Instead, she took up the sphere that had been sent to her and carried it outside into the gardens at the back of the Bevelle palace. She settled down beneath her favourite tree, which was currently in full bloom, and watched Andi's message. This was the best place for being alone; the myriad of manmade rivulets with their beautiful array of plant life spilled from every possible bed, lending life to the place. One of her favourite aspects of the gardens was the rich textured smell of earth, pollen and nectar. It was an aroma that you couldn't find anywhere else in Bevelle, unless you left for the woods via the main gates.

Just as Yasmine expected when she switched the sphere on, the dark haired girl with her many braids and her oh-so-neutral coloured dress sense was splayed out on her stomach, recording her message which consisted mostly of her rambling about what had recently happened in Guadosalm, and about Home as well. Yasmine had met Bayla's second cousins once or twice, but they lived too far and out of the way to see regularly, although she'd met their parents numerous times for diplomatic gatherings. Apparently, there was a big sandstorm raging over Bikanel Island, which was grinding the research and scavenging missions to a complete stand still, while the Leblanc Syndicate had a lull in the general sphere hunting business, and so Guadosalm was having a lazy phase too. Nooj was worrying over the fiend situation in the Djose area, and while Andi had proclaimed that she could lead a group of warriors in and help the Al Bhed defend the site, her mother had almost instantly whipped the idea out from under her feet. Andi was _not_ impressed by this at all, and ranted at great length about it to Yasmine, making her laugh aloud at her friend's grievance.

Then Andi ended her transmission with a quick update from Besaid, which piqued Yasmine's interest.

"_So I got a sphere from Bayla saying that she's mastered this piece of music she's been working on for _ages!_ So I sent you a copy because I don't think her's would have made it all the way up to you. Plus she asked me to, so yeah… Enjoy!_"

The screen faded, and when it came back up again Bayla was sat on a small bed in a tiny room with a blue guitar laid across her knees, which she scooped up and quickly tested for tuning. Her younger sister climbed down from her bunk above and settled against the pillows comfortably.

"_Okay, so…_" Bayla frowned as she wrestled the bracelets from her hands so she could play more easily. "_This is my favourite tune right now, which is so aptly named _Besaid_, for some strange reason…and I'm playing it for you! That's Andi, and if it gets as far as Bevelle for you too, Yas!_" She tested the strings one more time before settling in to play. "_Here goes nothing…_"

It was beautiful; it captured the very essence of what Yasmine remembered Besaid to be like, with some of Bayla's own warm personality thrown in too. When the final chord was struck, she put the guitar down and fist pumped the air. "_Yes! All the way through! _No_ mistakes!_"

"_Yey!_" Deka bounced on top of her, nearly causing her to drop the guitar. "_You did it, Bayla!_"

The sphere dimmed then, and then stopped altogether. It was comforting to know that Bayla _did_ think of her, since she had mentioned her specifically. But would she _remember_ her? Not just as the girl she used to play with, but as a person; her likes and dislikes, her hopes and fears…her duties.

Bayla was rather laid back about life, if she remembered correctly. Even as the High Summoner's daughter, she didn't seem nearly as fussed as Yasmine was about her responsibilities. She played guitar and blitzball, loved painting pictures and reading story books, running around all day in the sun and collapsing into a heap at dusk, only to awake the next morning and start all over again. Where the girl got the energy to keep going so was a complete mystery…

Yasmine, on the other hand, felt weighed down by her position. She was, after all, the Praetor's daughter, and with that title came responsibilities. It was hard to find a place to play in Bevelle, or the children to play with, for that matter. It didn't mean much to her inwardly, if she was able to negotiate with adults in a debate, or argue a case to a panel of stuffy old judges; whether she could regurgitate the entire works of some obscure, Pre-New Yevon anti-religious raving lunatic in the hopes that she wouldn't make the same mistakes of the past, or holding her own in a fight against an attacker. All that meant more to upholding New Yevon's ideals, and making sure that no one lost sight of the communal goal for all of Spira, than what Yasmine really wanted out of life.

In many books and stories, the heroine always left the safety of her palace or mansion and would run into a devilish young rogue, instantly fall in love and then spend the next few hundred pages trying to figure out how to make their relationship work. It always ended either in a neat little bubble of happiness with unrealistic ends all tied up nicely together, or in terrible tragedy with either one, both, and most often more parties suffering casualties.

That sort of thing happened all the time, whereas the nice, neat little problem free bubble scenario _never_ happened. Yasmine need only look to her own parents, and indeed her mother's friends as well as proof. Rikku had lost Gippal to the Crusader's, and Paine had lost Baralai in the aftermath of the ill-fated Operation Mi'ihen, and she knew the story about High Summoner Yuna and her guardian Tidus many times before. To so briefly meet your soul mate, and lose them for so long…it almost didn't bare thinking about. There was still a lot there that was unexplained, and Yasmine didn't like to think of the ins and outs of the situation; if it were her in Yuna's position, it would have driven her mad.

Then again, Yasmine's mother often said that Yuna _was_ mad to do the things she did for, what she called such an 'immature, naïve, loudmouthed twerp'. And Tidus was always quick to counter with some remark such as, "Thanks Paine, I love me too!" It made Yasmine smile to think of his grin, so much like Bayla's, and so warm and comforting like Yuna.

How did they do it? The Gullwings – they had disbanded so long ago, lived far from one another with their separate families and lives, and yet the way Paine spoke of Yuna, Rikku and their friend Elodie, it was as though they'd never spent a day apart. Yasmine wished she had the same camaraderie, although the people she wanted to have it with were all young too, with their own lives ahead of them to lead, and on a completely different path to her.

With a sigh, Yasmine noted the time and went back inside to finish the assignments her history tutor had set for her, due the following afternoon. Before she could make it to the door, Yasmine heard a shrill squawk and looked up in time to see a Spira Gull take off from the nearest tree – its beautiful crisp white feathering accentuated by a blue that mirrored the sky above, shining in the sunlight.

It was with a smile that Yasmine returned to her seat in the library to continue her work.

XOXOX

Baralai frowned over his table at the delegate from the newest and fastest growing body of Spira's youth, the so-called _Epoch Division_, who had requested an audience with the Praetor. He was a young man, and evidently not the best person for the job; and yet there he sat, exhuming cool and calculated arrogance.

"As you say," Baralai said politely, looking over the paper work on his desk to find Nooj's letters about this summer. "The tournament will be a great opportunity for your group-"

"Division," the young man threw in.

"Yes, your division, as it were, to help out, and possibly gain some ground-"

"But we have already!" he said, outraged that Baralai should question this fact.

This was taking more patience to deal with than was really necessary… "Of course, I did not mean to offend you or the Epoch Division. I merely meant that by helping to carry out the tournament you may gain more supporters from the younger generation."

"Well," he sat back in his seat, falling short of lounging, and ran a hand through his dusty blonde hair. "I was sent to procure a position in organising the tournament for our Chief."

"I would like to oblige," Baralai spread his hands in apology, knowing he really wasn't. "But this Blitzball tournament has been in the works for about eighteen months now, and we already have everything arranged. All that needs to be done now is to physically set everything up, which I'm sure if your leader would be happy to spare the hands, we would greatly appreciate. As it is, the Youth League are running short of auxiliary men since the fiend activity around Djose is on the increase for some reason. The Machine Faction has sent people of their own to help pick up the slack left behind, while most of the Al Bhed are stranded on Bikanel by this sandstorm. That leaves the majority of the work up to New Yevon, and we are further away from Luca than the other's headquarters." Then a thought struck him. "Forgive me, but I don't recall where you said the Epoch Division's headquarters are,"

"Oh." He got a blank look in response. After nearly a minute of silence Baralai made to rise to see if the young man was unwell, but he suddenly shook his head, almost violently, before she said, "The Moon Flow."

"I see. Still quite a distance to travel,"

"Oh, that's not a problem." The man said flippantly. "We have airships,"

"The question would be though, do you have enough to transport your people that far south?"

"Yes, I suppose so. They have enough to carry out the current operation, at least."

That caught Baralai's interest, but suddenly the young man became wary, as though he'd realised he'd said too much. "And what operation would this be?"

"Sorry, Sir," he was staring fixedly at the leg of the table Baralai was sitting at. "But that's classified. I shouldn't really know anything myself, just that one of the operatives got drunk the other night and was mouthing off about it. There's a lot of one-upmanship among the guys on the ground…"

"Yes, I remember those days," Baralai said casually, pretending to rifle through some papers and making a mental note to contact Gippal and Nooj as soon as he could. "Well, thank you so much for your time and your offer. I have another meeting to attend to now, but if you would like to leave contact details with my assistant next door, I'd be more than happy to talk to your leader about the tournament."

"Chief," the man said, springing to his feet to shake Baralai's hand. "He's not our leader, he's our Chief."

"Of course, my apologies," Baralai bowed his head respectfully, and watched as the youth hesitated for a moment before reciprocating.

It wasn't until dinnertime that evening that Baralai had a chance to speak to Paine about the incident, and even then it was only a casual remark from her about something Rikku had said in a hasty conversation that morning during their sandstorm, that sparked his memory of the meeting. He took care to recall each incident of that appointment in full for her to dissect. Quite often where he over looked something in his own memory, Paine picked up on instantly, and hopefully she would do the same today.

Alas, it was not to be, since Paine's frown became more pronounced, but she offered no more insight other than, "Their _Chief_ must be a fool is he personally sent such an inadequate boy to do his bidding, unless he wanted to wrong foot you."

Baralai laughed, feeling the earlier tension dissipate. "Yes, had it been myself personally, I would have sent a more experienced liaison. But if they are this new…"

"Rikku mentioned them a couple of months ago, and again today," Paine frowned again, mind hard at work to make the puzzle pieces connect. "Something about the Calm Lands…"

"The boy said that their HQ is by the Moon Flow," Baralai told her.

"Must have been something else," she shrugged it off as Yasmine entered the room and sat down on the other side of the small table. "There's a lot of activity surrounding the old fayth going on at the moment. Diggers from all over the place trying to smash the artefacts up as much as possible before they extract them…" Paine was always steadfast in her belief that the fayth should be left well alone. This opinion was probably coloured deeply by Yuna's own heavy disapproval, but Baralai respected it nonetheless.

"What are you talking about?" Yasmine asked, intrigued.

"A meeting I had earlier today," Baralai sighed, stretching his stiff arms out. "A rather inexperienced youth of northern decent from a new group known as the Epoch Division,"

"Oh, did he have dark hair and glasses?" she asked suddenly.

Paine looked up sharply, and Baralai looked between the two of them slowly before saying, "No. He had rather fair hair and tanned skin. Rather on the small side."

"Oh," Yasmine frowned. "I went for a walk after I finished in the library, and I ran into a man near the entrance to the temple who said he was here to represent the Epoch Division."

"And he wore glasses?" Paine said evenly, something almost fierce dancing in her eyes.

"Yes, and he had longish dark hair. He was quite handsome to look at," Yasmine laughed at the thought. "Pity he was too busy preening himself in the water's reflection. Arrogant so-and-so…"

Paine sat back, looking amused, but the hard look returned to her eyes soon after, and she remained quiet throughout the evening meal. They liked to eat together each night as a family, possibly the only time of day the got to see each other at all for any decent length of time, and both Paine and Baralai made a point of having the evening's off to spend time with their daughter. Yasmine chatted to him happily about how her studies were going, and the sphere Leblanc's girl had sent her that day, including Bayla's latest musical masterpiece.

"It will be good to see them again in Luca," Baralai said as they finished their meal.

"I just hope they remember me, or that they haven't changed, or that _I'm_ the one who's changed…"

Paine finally entered the conversation, to their surprise as they'd resigned themselves to her silent rumination. "Of course they've changed in the last eight years, and so have you. But trust me when I say," she leant over and held Yasmine's hand in both of hers, "They are not the sort of people who would forget a friend in a hurry. You'll see,"

Yasmine smiled, looking more confident again, and Paine smiled back at her. They looked rather similar, although she had inherited Baralai's darker skin and ash blonde hair – she had her mother's face and eyes. Still, her small and slight stature was a bit of a mystery to them both since her parents were quite tall. Paine thought that her grandmother may have been very petite, which might explain it, but to the cynics who may otherwise have tried to dispute her heritage, there was no possible way that Yasmine's parents could be anyone but Paine and Baralai.

After that, Paine and Yasmine talked for a bit while Baralai silently contemplated his empty soup bowl, wondering if he would be able to get someone to track down this person Yasmine had mentioned before and see what came up.

For now though, he simply revelled in the companionship of his family, and started planning ahead for the preparations of going all the way down to Luca for this tournament.

XOXOX

When Tamaki found his operative, loafing around underneath a pear tree outside the walls of the old palace, he couldn't resist clearing his throat loudly and making the poor young man jump out of his skin.

"Sleeping on the job, Raelyn?"

"No, sir, sorry sir!" he stammered, picking himself up and shaking like a leaf in an autumn breeze. "I was resting my eyes," he looked terrified.

Tamaki took pity on him for a moment, and motioned for him to follow, and began to walk down the palisades towards the water edged walkway up to the city gates.

"So, how did the meeting with the Praetor go?" he asked innocently.

"Very well!" he seemed glad to impart the good news, and blabbed on about the blitzball tournament.

Tamaki raised a hand to silence him after ten minutes of such talk, and said, "Tell my father that I made myself known to the Praetor's good daughter, the Lady Yasmine."

"I thought that…" Raelyn broke off, apparently afraid he'd say the wrong thing. "Well," he flustered when Tamaki motioned for him to continue. "I thought the Chief just wanted to infiltrate the tournament…"

"We have to better our chances of having sympathisers, for when the time is right." He said slowly, as though talking to a small and ignorant child. Well, in this case he supposed it was really…

"But…but I thought that…"

"The Lady Yasmine," Tamaki mused, leaning against the barrier around the manmade river and watching his reflection undulate in the light speckled water, considering the options before him. "Daughter of Praetor Baralai and the Lady Paine, High Summoner Yuna's friend and ally. And then, of course, there are the Lady Yuna's children as well. And a beautiful, ripe young maiden of age, to boot!"

Raelyn eyed Tamaki with suspicion, but he didn't care about the younger man's opinion on this – he, after all, had no say in the matter.

"Sir Wakka's son is quite the athlete, or so I hear. And then, of course, the Al Bhed's expansive tribe are there for the pickings, too. A strapping, fine young man to inherit the family's title as leader, and three spare heirs, as they were. And such pretty girls – they do take after their mother, or so I'm told. The only question is…who would make the best prize to side with our Division? And who would I rather spend the rest of my life bound to?"

Raelyn stopped in his tracks and gaped at Tamaki.

"That expression is very unbecoming of your intelligence, Raelyn." It gave the impression of some semblance of astuteness. Rather unbefitting of his countenance…

"Begging your pardon, sir," he said slowly, as though dim-witted. "But that wasn't what the Chief wanted me to do!"

"Oh, of course not. It's what he wants _me_ to do, which I can while you're giving the Praetor such a good distraction. The only question is, will it be too obvious what we're up to if I were to ask for his daughter's hand?" Ah, yes. _That_ was the real question… "It's so hard to chose, especially when each girl salient to the plan has a variety of perks to her."

Ignoring his lackey's look of bewilderment, Tamaki swept towards the gates, flashing his token at the guards and letting himself out of the citadel. "I expect a full report and status quo by tomorrow night." He added over his shoulder before he ducked into the Macalania woods. From there, he made his way to the crystal spring to further contemplate his father's motives.

There was no sound, save for that of the low, deadened hum of the slowly decaying forest; huge patches in the canopy had spread through the woods, and in its newfound light the weeds and grasses were taking hold of the crumbling remains, and shrubs were taking the trees place as the more successful organism, feeding from the decomposing bodies' of the fallen.

If he was to succeed, Tamaki had to become just as successful was those weeds, and strangle his opponents into submission; then he too could feed off their life giving energy to suit his own ends.

XOXOX

"The date is set," Baralai said with a smile, handing the letter over to Yasmine for inspection.

Her smile was bright and wide. "I can't wait!" she checked the arranged departure date, and saw it was four days ahead of the actual opening ceremony, and then they would be home two days after the tournament concluded.

"It will be good to see your friends again,"

Paine walked into the room, flicking through the pages of a book before dumping it on the table with great gusto. "Where's the memo?" she asked, a rare and brilliant smile gracing her lips.

"You might have to wrestle it from our daughter first…" Baralai teased, putting a hand on Yasmine's shoulder.

"A week from now!" she enthused, showing it to her mother. "I'm so excited!"

Paine took it from her, inspecting it closely. "Which is exactly the day that Gippal's arriving. I still need to get in touch with Yuna, the connections been very patchy recently…"

It was a real pleasure to see the excitement well up in his daughter's eyes; Baralai tied his hardest to give her a normal childhood, but that was, of course, nigh impossible to do. While he was running an organisation and, through the other two parties, Spira at large, Paine was teaching weapons craft and training the elite guards to the modern equivalent of the Crimson Squad. She also did a lot of travelling on the side, acting as a dignitary – normally on Yuna's behalf as opposed to New Yevon's. With all this going on, Yasmine never had much time with _both_ her parents that didn't involve something government orientated. Even this whole Blitzball tournament was semi political.

Still, Baralai knew full well that if Rikku could (and knowing her she _would_) get her own way, she would come too, and then the original Gullwing Girls were going to let their hair down for the duration of the tournament. He knew this because Paine had mentioned it at breakfast this morning, touching lightly on the fact that Rikku had been sending her nothing short of death threats if she wasn't at the Luca Stadium when she arrived.

"You're history tutor was looking for you," Paine turned to Yasmine, who deflated at once. "Something about another assignment…"

"I can't _wait_ to go to Luca," she said sombrely, heading for the door. "I can bore Bayla to tears with how I know about the Neo Christian upraising before Yevon stamped on it…"

"I can think of better ways to waste my life," Paine said flippantly, before turning to Baralai with a very serious expression. "Do you remember what the name of that vain boy Yasmine said she talked to yesterday? From the Epoch Division,"

Baralai frowned as he tried to remember. "No…I don't think she mentioned a name. Why, is something wrong?"

Paine walked over to the window with out saying anything, arms folded and stance set aggressively. Baralai followed and stood behind her, rubbing her arms soothingly and waiting for her to speak. Eventually, she let out a long contained sigh and said, "I ran into a young man who fit her description. He did seem pretty arrogant when we spoke, and I inquired to his business in Bevelle." She paused for a long time before continuing. "He said he was the escort for the ambassador of the Division…It just doesn't make sense!" She raised a hand and massaged her temples. "Why send an idiot to do the job, and assign someone who – even if they _are_ stuck up – would have made a much better case for their group? It just doesn't add up…"

Baralai rested his cheek against the back of her head, and he felt her lean against him for support. "You're over thinking this. Obviously, they're a new group who haven't sorted their admin out yet. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for their terrible organisational skills,"

Paine may have smiled in response, but she certainly wasn't laughing.

"I suppose…I'd like to keep a closer eye on Yasmine,"

"Anything wrong?"

"Just that the guy was talking about her. A _lot_."

"All right," Baralai nodded. "It should be safe enough in Luca. Bayla and Vidina are more than enough to look after her."

"It's not that…" Paine said in a defeated tone. She pivoted around to face him, but focused intently on the collar of his shirt.

"Then what is it?" he asked, replacing his hands on her arms, gently coaxing her to speak.

"I worry about her." Paine looked up at the door their daughter had exited by. "I know she's very good at handling debates and fending off attack, but…she's not very in touch with people her own age. We've tried our best, but we knew she would never have a normal upbringing. And I worry that someone could take advantage of that. I don't want to see her get hurt…"

Baralai completely understood her worries, and cupped her face with his right hand, tenderly forcing her to look him in the eye. "She's smart enough to see that man for what he is. Yasmine's a good judge of character, and she has her friends. Remember, Bayla and Vidina have finished their formal education this year, and she's expressed a wish to travel more now that she's free to do so. Nothing will happen to Yasmine, I promise. And even if it does…" he added with a smile. "He'll have not only New Yevon to fear, but the Youth League, the Machine Faction, and Leblanc's Syndicate after him too. Even if they send the wrong people for the wrong job, I'm sure the Epoch Division can't be _that_ stupid."

Paine smiled briefly; it was fleeting, and didn't quite reach her eyes, but it was there all the same. "I guess so…"

"Come on," Baralai brushed the thought of paperwork away carelessly with one hand, taking hers and walking to the door. "Why don't we ditch duties for the day? We could go for a walk – just the three of us."

"Sounds like a plan," Paine said, a small but genuine smile gracing her lips.

"Just need to rescue Yasmine from Brother Yensa."

"I lied about that,"

"This doesn't surprise me." Baralai allowed himself a laugh, and tugged at her hand. "Come,"

It wasn't difficult to find Yasmine, or to steer her down to the inner harbour on the citadel's eastern flank; she came willingly, and they spent a rare half hour just like any other family would on a leisurely stroll. It was, however, difficult to maintain that moment when they heard a shriek from behind them, and someone barrelled into Yasmine like a bat from the Far Plane.

"Yas!"

The girl spun round to find another teen stood behind her, dressed in warm browns that matched her long hair, though this was shot through with streaks of flaxen, and sporting the biggest grin in the world.

"Andi!" Yasmine squealed, flinging herself into her friend's arms.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" they both said in that high-pitched tone only adolescent girls seem to be able to reach.

"It's good to see you again," Baralai said, giving the girl a one armed hug once Yasmine had relinquished her. "Are your parents here, too?"

"My dad is," Andi shrugged, adjusting the glasses on the end of her nose. "Hi Aunt Paine!" she said, giving the woman a bear hug.

"Hello, Trouble," Paine smiled, responding to her embrace. Looking up over the top of her head, Paine smirked, and Baralai followed her gaze. "In your own time," she teased.

Nooj was slowly plodding his way down the promenade, smiling at them with the barest hint of a grimace as he struggled to keep up with his daughter. "Long time no see…in the flesh,"

"How are you, old friend?" Baralai greeted him with a handshake before enveloping the Myven in a one armed hug, which he reciprocated.

"Very well, thanks. Hello, Paine,"

After Paine had also hugged him, she stood back to appraise his appearance before saying, "I thought we'd be seeing you next at the tournament?"

"Well, that _was_ the plan," Nooj turned to the two teens, still gushing excitedly together about the next two weeks. "But I was bullied into making a surprise visit."

Baralai laughed, and turned to the girls. "Why don't you run along for a bit? I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on,"

"See ya!" Andi waved, flashing them a brilliant smile before the grabbed Yasmine and ran down the seaside walkway, dragging her behind.

"We'll be back later!" she had to shout to make herself heard over Andi's laughter.

"So then," Baralai got down to business once they were left alone. "What brings you here today? Besides your excitable daughter, that is," he chuckled.

Nooj didn't respond in kind, and Paine frowned at his expression.

"Fiend activity is increasing." He said bluntly. "We may need to post more sentries to the Mi'ihen Highroad. The rate at which they are spreading, they could make it to Luca in a few months."

"It won't come to that," Paine stated. "Fiend attacks on settlements that large are rare and isolated incidents. They won't get past the travel lodge, if they even make it out of Djose."

"Our patrols are hard pressed enough as it is, and Gippal can't spare any more men."

"We can send some of ours," Baralai reassured his old friend. Then something else occurred to him. "You haven't by any chance had contact from a group calling themselves _The Epoch Division_, have you?"

"I suppose this means they've contacted you as well."

Paine scowled. "They're either idiots or angling for something. I don't trust their representatives."

Nooj gave a short bark of laughter. "Leblanc didn't like them either. I had to persuade her not to kick them out on sight. The wouldn't go down too well with our public relations policy, would it?"

Baralai noticed the way Nooj was sagging to one side, and gestured back up towards the palace. "You need to sit down, let's get inside out of the sun. We can discuss their short comings over some tea-"

"Coffee," Paine contradicted over him.

Baralai smiled at her. "Whatever my lady wishes,"

Nooj laughed raucously as she walked on ahead of them, and in answer to Baralai's questioning look said, "Soft and mushy never was a good look on you."

That last comment made him smile, and they trudged back inside for a traditional teatime appointment with coffee and cake. They started by talking politics and the logistics of the blitz tournament, but it morphed into a heated debate on the likelihood of their favourite teams getting into the final rounds.

Since the Eternal Calm began, more blitzball teams had sprung up across Spira. The main six teams remained, although many players had come and gone in the last twenty years; the Zandal's shambolic excuse of a 'team' had sorted themselves into a proper, organised unit about fifteen years ago, as well as New Yevon, the Youth League, the Machine Faction, and many sphere hunting groups putting forward their own teams. Due to the increase in entries, the tournaments had to last several days to accommodate everyone into a proper league table with all the rematches that determined the team's rank.

Really, the teams lower down the table weren't that far behind the rest; the whole thing seemed to be down to luck. The rock bottom was held by the Zandal, normally between three and nine points behind the rest. The organisation's go-between, Elodie à Stroma of the North Eastern Tribe, guardian to High Summoner Yuna, was an avid fan, and took every possible opportunity to diss her people's blitz team. She'd spent many years travelling, and no matter where she went or what she did, she always returned to Besaid, and as such she was a die-hard Auroch fan.

It was by mutual consensus, and most probably loyalty, that they named the Auroch's as the most likely candidates for wining this year. It was far more fun to think about the logistics of the actual game, as opposed to setting up for it; the dynamics of each player's abilities, personality, and the way they integrated not only with their own team-mates but with the opposition…significantly more interesting to discuss!

"I reckon the Auroch's will pull it out of the bag this year," Paine stated, looking at the sky through the mullioned window. "Their new Goalie is way too fast for the other teams to keep up with."

"Pity Keepa retired," Baralai mused over his teacup. "But a shattered kneecap does tend to slow you down…"

Paine snorted uncharacteristically with laughter, looking pointedly anywhere but at Nooj.

"So much for subtlety…"

They all laughed over it, and continued to discuss the up coming tournament; full of optimism and hope for what the morrow would bring.

XOXOX

"So!" Andi grinned, sitting herself down on the harbour wall by the floodgate, where they shouldn't really be strictly speaking… There was about ten feet of air between them and the water below. "What's new around here that I haven't heard yet?"

Yasmine chewed her mouthful of Senda cake sedately while Andi burst with impatience. Daintily wiping the crumbs from her mouth with a corner of the napkin wrapped around the cake, she turned to her friend and said, "Not much. Father Zuke's a grandfather for the third time last week. Everyone's geared up for the tournament,"

"I should think so too!"

"And some people from a new group called _The Epoch Division_ have tried to establish relations with New Yevon."

"Yeah, they did with the Youth League as well. My mom went _ballistic_,"

Yasmine stifled a giggle – Leblanc was known for being over the top and exaggerated. "I can imagine…"

"Drives dad insane… I can't believe they haven't had a go at each other yet! That meeting with the division was almost a complete disaster. If Logos hadn't stepped in when he did…"

They made fun of the representatives they had met for a few minutes before laughing it off. "Did you see the escort with them?" Andi asked, putting on a dreamy looking smile for effect.

"Who, the arrogant toe rag with the dark hair and glasses?" Yasmine asked dryly.

"Yeah! That one, have you met him?"

"Yes." she sniffed. "Rather unimpressed with his attitude, if I'm honest…"

"But he had a body to die for," Andi said dreamily.

Yasmine snorted with laughter. "I'd rather marry a shoopuf than become acquainted with that man!"

"But you cannot deny…he's _so_ good looking!" Andi laughed at her expression and then proceeded to go on and _on_ at length about how this man was the epitome of handsome and good looking, and that Yasmine didn't understand the finer things in a teenaged girl's life. "You've lived in your little political bubble for too long," she complained loudly and at length while Yasmine studiously ignored her in favour of finishing her Senda cake. "We need to take you clubbing in Luca,"

Yasmine nearly choked on her cake. "What?" she spluttered, forcing air into her lungs. "My father would be so angry! And I think my mother might just _kill_ me on the spot," the last time she'd tried to sneak out to do anything remotely like that, her parents had promised to invoke divine retribution upon her. Those two were _scary_ when they were angry…she'd never tried to break her boundaries again after that incident.

"Come on! You're seventeen, live a little!" Andi shook her gently by the shoulder. "You won't be by yourself! You'll have me, and Bayla. And Vidina's coming too! And I think Rikku's bringing the twins along with her as well. I don't know actually, I'll have to check that out…but still!"

"Andi…" Yasmine sighed, looking down at the water below her feet, watching the patterns of ripples made by the boats sailing in and out of the dock. "I don't think I'd really enjoy that sort of thing…and would Bayla and Vidina? They come from a small island, after all…"

Andi waved the notion away with a vague gesture. "Just cause they come from a backwater island doesn't mean they don't know how to have fun. Bayla's such a party animal, it won't take much to bribe her into helping me drag you out for a night on the town."

"Pray tell, how would you bribe her?" Yasmine sighed again, feeling her resolve crumble to dust under the weight of Andi's enthusiasm.

"With chocolate, of course! She has such a weak spot for the stuff…

"Of course…" Yasmine echoed bleakly, wondering if she could have her invitation revoked and barricade herself in the library for the next few weeks.

"And hiding behind those musty old history tomes won't work either!" Andi threatened playfully. "You can't hide from me. You're going clubbing with us if it's the last thing I do!"

Without the heart to tell her no, Yasmine nodded and said in a resigned tone, "If you insist…"

"Yey!" Andi jumped to her feet and clapped her hands for joy. "So we need an outfit for you! Well, more than one if I have my own way…there's a market over in the plaza in the north end, isn't there?"

"What, Yukon's Square?" _When did that market open again…? _"I think so. Why?"

"Got any money?" Andi asked, checking her own money belt. She had some left, even after buying them food.

"A little bit, but I was going to buy some food for the chocobos at the stables…" it was Yasmine's favourite place to be outside of family and political commitment, in the chocobo corral.

"They have food enough! Party clothes, you _don't_. Come with me," Andi practically dragged her to her feet and up towards the market.

Bevelle _was_ a citadel, after all, but it still had its fresh food markets every weekend. Today was a weekday, however, and the school day was going to end in two hours. So it made sense for Andi to want to hurry up, but Yasmine liked to browse through the myriad of colours on display around the stalls scattered across the plaza – you just couldn't rush that sort of thing.

Although evidently Andi _could_.

"I think green suits you," she kept saying, or, "Look at these beads! And those _feathers_! How about we give you Al Bhed braids?"

"Just let me find something I know I'll _like_," Yasmine breathed. "If I'm going to be forced to spend the night at a club at least let me choose something I'll willingly wear…"

"Well, hurry up! Time is running very short now. All the kids will be flooding the place in half an hour, and there won't be any room to swing a cat o' nine tails!"

"Nothing was ever achieved through rushing that was worth while," Yasmine said stoically.

"Yeesh! You sound like my dad having a preaching moment…"

Yasmine laughed, and pulled a green sequined dress from a mass of pink and purple skirts jammed at the back of the rail. "Look, what about this one?"

Andi gasped, seized the fabric from her and ran away yelling, "One sec!" over her shoulder. It was almost no time at all when she came back to a stunned Yasmine, brandishing a few more articles. "Look! This will go perfectly together!"

Yasmine took the bundle of fabric from her to find a pair of black leggings that seemed a bit too short in the leg, and a few items of jewellery. "How much did this all cost and where did you get it from?" she said in a monotone, refusing to let the pretty little shiny objects sway her.

"Round the corner. What do you think?" Andi demanded, tapping her foot with impatience.

"Well…they look really nice, and the colours go together…"

"Done and done!" and with that, Andi took off the purchase them.

"Hey! Andi, come back!"

"Too late! Now then, we have to go and try it on,"

"_I'm_ the one who's suppose to wear it. And aren't you supposed to try things on _before _you buy them?"

"Whoa, Yas! Lay off the sarcasm, it's not a good look on you." Andi smiled at the vender and said, "Thanks, have a nice day!"

"Thank you miss, you too!" he smiled and waved them off.

"What about you?" Yasmine wasn't very good at sulking, but she tried her best as they walked back up to the main palace where their parents were bound to be talking over tea and biscuits. And most probably coffee too.

"Hmm?" Andi hummed distractedly, twirling the jade and wood bracelet around her finger.

"No new outfit?" Yasmine hedged.

"Huh? Oh, fayth no! My mom and I are going to go look round Guadosalm later this week. You know, since we don't do much together anymore and she's insisting on giving me a new style for the summer." Andi rolled her eyes and smiled indulgently. "The reality that I'm no longer mommy's little girl will have to set in one day. Then what will she do?"

Yasmine laughed. "My mother and I go to art galleries and theatre, things like that. I don't worry about clothes too much, so we never really go shopping together." Paine wasn't that sort of person anyway – as different from Leblanc as chalk was from cheese.

"That's because your mother isn't into the latest fashions. That's why you have me!" Andi gave her a huge hug. "Come on, after he determine that this fits we need to find you some shoes…"

"Oh, I think I have a pair that might go, actually." Yasmine suddenly remembered. Ball gowns were more of her forte when it came to formal wear – she didn't own many, if _any_ casual dresses. This knee length green skirt in Andi's clutches would probably be the first.

"You'll love it, really," Andi promised, in a much softer, calmer voice. "You won't have to get off with any guys there or anything. Vidina knows them all like the back of his hand, so we'll just choose a respectable bar and dance our socks off till morning. Okay? I promise nothing bad will happen."

Yasmine smiled at her and said, "I just hope I can stay awake long enough."

"Oh, you will," Andi promised her, stepping grandly through the side door used by the kitchen staff and sweeping dramatically up the back staircase. "You will. Bayla and I will make certain of it."

Even as she smiled widely and followed her friend up to the next floor, a sudden feeling came over Yasmine – it was all so quick she had barely any time to pinpoint the emotion, but when she opened her eyes again it was to find her father standing over her with a worried expression.

"I thought you were in a meeting?" she said dazedly.

"I was," he said, face tight with anxiety. "Then one of the cooks rush in to tell me you'd fainted on the back stairs. Are you all right?"

Yasmine sat up slowly, head pounding painfully now that she directed attention to it. "Ow," she said weakly

"By the Fayth, you scarred the living daylights out of me!" Andi said, pale and stricken by her side. "One moment you were grinning, the next you looked like you'd seen a ghost, just before you fell down the stairs and nearly broke your neck…!"

"It was weird," Yasmine said quietly to her father as Andi went on about her emotional trauma. "I felt like…I don't know, something very negative… I must have lost consciousness very quickly if that's the case…" she laughed suddenly. "I don't even know what I'm saying…"

"I don't think you've drunk enough today," Baralai laid disconcertingly cool fingers across her forehead. "Some water and a nap, I think is in order."

Her father helped her back up to her room, quite far away from where they were, and Andi followed, wide eyed and for once lip buttoned up securely. She stayed with Yasmine for a bit in her room while Baralai went back to let Paine and Nooj know what happened. While the adults conducted their business thereafter, she reclined on her bed, staring at the map of the stars painted on her ceiling while Andi rooted around in the wardrobe for more ensembles of clothes to throw together while some soft pop music played in the background on her speaker set.

Yasmine loved her room; it had that classic Bevelle architecture with the high ceilings and recessed walls that made the most of the light that shone in from only one wall that faced north. The windows were spaced in sets of three along the north wall, almost reaching up to the ceiling, and draped with heavy green curtains that matched the rugs on the wooden floor. All the furniture in here, from the heavy chest of drawers to the desk, armoire, and the bed were made of dark polished wood which contrasted against the cream paint of the walls. There were a few framed photographs on the walls at regular intervals, mostly of Yasmine's parents, though there was one of her, Bayla and Vidina when their parents had last visited them here in Bevelle.

This one in particular had to be Yasmine's favourite; they were on a wall of the harbour, down near the floodgates but not actually on it (Wakka had taken the photo, and wouldn't hear of them getting any closer). Yasmine was wearing a green and white summer dress, sitting neatly on the stonewall beside Bayla, who was wearing shorts and a shirt and half kneeling with the biggest grin on her face. Vidina was stood behind them, positively towering over their heads in his old blitz kit, also grinning at the camera. Bayla had a warm smile, there was no doubt about it; but there was just something about Vidina's smile…it just seemed more inviting in a different way to Bayla's, even at this young age in the photo frame.

As these thoughts chased themselves around in her head, Andi threw an armful of clothes wrestled from the wardrobe and looked at her expectantly.

"You got the sphere and all, right?"

"Yes, just yesterday in fact…"

"Okay. I was gonna wait for a reply, but I thought why not just drop by instead?"

"Like you need an excuse to…"

Andi shrugged grandly and went back to matching up outfits. They sat in companionable silence until she finally broached the subject.

"What _happened_ back there? One moment you were fine, and the next…!"

Yasmine frowned as she tried to figure it out herself. "I don't know…I felt really…oh, I don't even know. It just happened so quickly! It was a horrible feeling though…"

"You sure you didn't just have low blood sugar levels? Or actually," Andi was already brushing the incident of as she convinced herself that science could explain it away. "I know this guy who has difficulty maintaining _salt_ in his body, so he gets these head aches and passes out and he has to drink this weird potion with _three_ types of salt to…"

Yasmine suddenly felt very sleepy, and rather than hurt Andi's feelings by telling her to stop, she chose instead to curl up on the myriad of pillows at the head of her bed and close her eyes.

Whatever it was that had caused her momentary black out, she hoped it would have passed by the time the tournament came around.

XOXOX

"Heh, that's weird." Tara said as she dumped a pile of plates by the sink.

"What is?" said the youngest kitchen maid, a girl named Yeleana. She was a real sweetheart, and wouldn't conceive of the thought to harm even a fly. She was also, sadly, a complete klutz; no one trusted her with knives or china, so Tara normally made her pick herbs from the garden, and put her in charge of the raw ingredients of their cooking. She was actually rather good at it once she over came her fear of screwing up.

"What foods have we been preparing for the praetor and his family?" Tara asked, gathering up the utensils on the tabletop and putting them in a dirty mixing bowl to stack alongside the plates for cleaning.

"Err…the usual?" when Tara motioned for her to continue the young girl counted off on her fingers. "Carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, potatoes…umm…sweet corn? Turnips, leeks, yams…"

"And meat?"

"Chicken and duck and things like that. Pork, beef…oh yeah, and we had a few eggs and that yesterday. And some cheese from the Moon Flow,"

Tara appraised the girl, who shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of her senior. "Is that all, Yeleana?"

"That I can remember off the top of my head. Lady Helen keeps a record of what's been sent up to them, I know that. It should be in her office."

Even if this girl was foolish and clumsy, she had a heart of gold and Tara would never doubt her word.

"Begging your pardon, but what's weird, exactly?"

"Yasmine collapsed on her way up the stairs. The Myven's daughter was with her, and she nearly had a heart attack. I had to rush to the Praetor to inform him what had happened. I just took some tea up to the girls five minutes ago, and she seems right as rain. I was wondering if it was something she'd eaten,"

Yeleana bit her lip. "If it was on my account I am dreadfully sorry,"

"No, no, dear girl," Tara patted her hair and clucked over her like a mother hen. "You are very good at sorting rotten food, I know it wasn't your fault. But I do wonder if any spices were used."

"Well…" Yeleana frowned hard as she struggled to remember. "There was this man in here last night, said he was the new chef. But if Rand was leaving I know you would have told me. So I asked him what had happened but he just shrugged and went about making dinner. There was a pot on the shelf in the pantry and he sprinkled some powder onto the side dishes. It smelled like rosemary so I left him to it,"

Tara took account of everything she said, and smiled when Yeleana had finished. "My dear girl, you look dead on your feet. Go and have an early night, I'll take care of this,"

Yeleana smiled and bowed to Tara before she left the room, leaving the older woman to raid the pantry for this pot of herbs. After nearly half an hour she admitted defeat and went to report back to the praetor on her discovery. She walked into a man at the door to the kitchen, wheeling a stack of boxes behind him.

"Terribly sorry!" he said smoothly, clumsily stepping back to allow her to pass.

Suspicions already raised by Yasmine's faint, and the fact that Tara had never seen this man before, she planted herself on the threshold with arms akimbo and gave him a surreptitious look.

"Can I help you?"

"I have been detailed to deliver these," he motioned at the boxes.

"You're not the normal kitchen staff." Tara stated.

"Yes," he chuckled nervously, running a hand through his dark hair. Judging by the bands he wore around his wrists and the accent, he was probably a Zandal. "Well, the man who normally delivers the spices has taken ill."

"With?"

"Vomiting virus. He's been bed ridden for another week to make sure it doesn't spread. Nasty business that,"

Tara stood back to let him in, and followed him over to the table where he began clumsily stacking the boxes. "Here," she swooped in to save them as he nearly knocked them onto the floor for the third time.

"Terribly sorry," he said again, stepping back from the table and squinting at her in the bright light of the kitchen. "My eye sight is very poor, you see…"

"Why would that be?" Tara inquired politely.

"I am one of the few survivors of Sin's last attack," he said slowly. "Before it landed on Bevelle. My mother died giving birth to me, and the toxin robbed me of full sight. Our village's Shaman rescued me and did what she could, but I doubt I'll ever see clearly,"

The suspicion in Tara's heart was momentarily quashed by this story; there was a boy who used to work in the chocobo coral years ago with the same affliction, though he had later died of a bad bout of pneumonia. This young man had the same tilt to his head as me made the best use of the light in the room, the same unfocused glaze over his eyes that she could see now that she looked closer.

"I am very sorry to hear that. Pray tell, what is your name?"

"Ikamat. Ikamat à Pilanel," he bowed deeply. "At your service my lady."

The suspicion was back in full swing – which tribe was it that had been attacked before the final assault by the High Summoner? Tara would have to go and check this up after she'd reported to the praetor.

"Thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go. I will have someone come down to unpack these."

"Oh, that will be no problem," Ikamat said with a disarming smile.

Tara wasn't having any of it. "I wouldn't want you to strain your eyes, dear boy. Off you go,"

The young man left readily, if somewhat reluctantly, saying that he didn't mind helping out. Tara smiled at him and locked the door behind her before she set off to inform the praetor of her discoveries. He was a very sensible man to set up his spy network the way he had; the first people who would notice something ill afoot were those right at the bottom of the hierarchy. Tara was his first port of call whenever things started to get unsettled, and by the fayth they _were_ becoming unsettled, in almost every corner of Spira. She knew a good deal more than most servants, and what she knew was slowly but surely disturbing her to the very core of her being.

Though, hopefully, between them the leaders of the different sections and groups would find a solution and fix the problem at its core.

Hope had brought them an eternal calm, and Tara firmly believed that it could bring them through this and out the other side.

XOXOX


	3. Bikanel Island

**AN: I know this is probably dragging too much, but I wanted to set everything up first before I introduced my OC, which will happen in the next chapter. Anyways, the reason Rikku has quite so many kids is because in FFX (if you trigger the right cutscene) she tells Tidus that she wants lots of kids so that they won't be alone if anything happens to her, like her own family.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated! :D**

_**Bikanel Island**_

"Yes!" Kai shrieked with delight, jumping on the spot and waving at the brilliantly clear blue sky above. "It's gone! Woohoo!"

"Now you can run that reconnaissance for me on that old broken sphere you found in the northern wastes," her sister said, adjusting the glasses perched on the end of her nose and appraising the cam grid in her hands.

Kai gave Rosie a scathing look and said stiltedly, "I was just rejoicing that we can go outside now. You have to turn everything back to work…Kill joy!"

"I need that data," Rosie spun on her heel and went back indoors. "Don't keep me waiting, mom needs it pretty fast."

Kai sighed and glowered up at the now mockingly crystal clear sky. Damn Rosie and her immaculately curly hair and her stupid pretty skirts! She needed to get out in the dirt more often; it couldn't be healthy being such an insufferable know-it-all and cooped up indoors all day long. True, the Al Bhed were known for their naturally tanned skin, but Rosie was an appreciable three or four shades lighter than Kai (possibly even more than that), since the younger twin by approximately twenty minutes spent almost all her available time out on the sands.

"Hey, Kiddo!"

Kai jumped when her grandfather clapped her on the back heavily and laughed in his usual, boisterous tones. "Granddad!" she complained loudly in Al Bhed. "Don't scare me like that!"

Cid just laughed some more, petted her on the head and turned to walk away. "Your mother wants to see you pretty urgently."

"Kay…" she sighed, and ran off to find her mother – wherever the hell she was on the base.

New Home had been built upon the remains of an old, well-sheltered outpost, and was the first permanent settlement of the Al Bhed since the disaster before the Eternal Calm. It was hard for Kai to think of her people being decimated so, since she had nothing to compare it to in her short life; still, she loved the base, even if it was for the most part a tin can they all lived in. The sleeping quarters with their assorted living areas were separate for each family, including her own; there was a guest wing at the west end of the base, known as _Facd Aht_, where visitors usually stayed if they came in large groups too big for the host families to accommodate. When Aunt Yuna and her family came – which was very rare these days – they normally stayed there.

As well as the sleeping and living areas, there was a common shower block near the hovers at the northern gates, and a communal dining hall with its own team of staff to feed the hungry mouths of the people working under the research canopy. The bulk of the southern sect of the base was giving up to the research labs, the extensive library, and the many tech labs and workshops devoted to the study of machina, history, and new technologies. Rosie, Kai's fraternal twin, spent her days there, looking at and touching up the junk Kai and their older brother Tarak dragged home with them.

Just as she ran past a wall comprised of solid metal sheets that reflected the light of the desert, Kai paused to check her reflection. Her hair was still a haystack style mass of braids and beads, held up by her favourite bright orange bandana. In contrast to Rosie's neat and perfect red and pink wardrobe, Kai wore her tattered khakis and yellow tank top with pride; all she needed was a bit of armour, her sun reactive goggles, and she was set for another forage into the desert. But first, her mother needed her.

Rikku was in the first tech lab of the block, and hurried over when Kai entered the room. "There you are! Have you seen your cousin?"

Kai grimaced. "No. Not since breakfast. I need to scout out more machina junk, but I can go look for him first if you like,"

"Please do," her mother said, wiping the girt and oil from her face. For all the stress of running a base and having responsibility over the people living there, Rikku had aged incredibly well, especially after having seven children. Although it had to be said, recently her infectious smile had given way to a rather grim look that matched her husband's. "I have a meeting to go to now, but I don't want him left on his own. Can you persuade him to stay with Ruba and Paco for the day?"

"Ha! You've got to be joking, Ma." Kai snorted. "He'd have my hide if I told him to! I'll just tell him to go to the rec room or something. I'm sure I can find something for him to do in the mean time."

Rikku gave her a hard look. "He needs company and support, not a babysitter! Your father didn't bring him here to be mollycoddled." Then, in a softer tone she said, "Dusty needs time – he's been hit real hard, and he needs us. Try to be nice to him, without being OTT."

Kai felt her heart clench, as it often did concerning her cousin, and nodded. "I'll see what I can do," Her mother gave her a quick, greasy hug before she dashed off to clean up for her big meeting, and Kai ran off to find her errant cousin.

Dustin was the son of her father's sister, and had lost his own father when they were all still fairly young. Still, the aunt she barely saw made a living off the travel inn they owned, and the steady stream of messages let Gippal know that they were doing okay. And then, about three weeks ago, he'd got a message and disappeared for another ten days before he came back – stone faced and dragging his nephew behind him. It had been the first, and only time Kai had ever seen her father cry, and she never wanted to see that again; she had only seen in passing, walking along the corridor where Gippal's office was – he'd been draped over his desk, eye patch off and sobbing his heart out while Rikku held him, and Granddad Cid sat in a chair on the other side of the room in silent mourning. It was truly horrible to witness such a deep moment of weakness in her always confident and headstrong father.

Worse still, was that Dustin was all alone; he'd never had regular contact with the rest of his family, and he'd just lost both his mother and little sister. From what Kai could gather, a storm had destroyed the building they lived in, and while they were patching it up quite happily and within their abilities, they were attacked by fiends that had something like rabbis. Dustin hadn't been bitten, for whatever reason, and was subsequently the only survivor. Kai remembered from the one or two times she'd seen him in the past, he'd always been such a happy and content boy – now he had the same stone face as her father had when he returned from the Moon Flow, unwilling to talk and being generally an all round anti-social. When he wasn't voicing his emotions through the medium of shouting, that is…

The poor guy had lost his family, so of course Kai forgave his behaviour, but it was harder to explain to Ruba, her younger brother who couldn't really understand; the same went for Paco, who was a bit older but had always been erratic in himself anyway. The two youngest, Meva and Sicel, were just kept right out of the way – for a few reasons, such as Sicel at the age of four wouldn't be able to deal with Dustin, and Dustin wouldn't cope with the eighteen month old Meva.

Ambling around the base for almost half an hour, without success, Kai grabbed her communicator and started asking around. Finally, her winning lead came from her elder brother Tarak, who pointed her to just outside the main compound. In his own words, "_The guy just wants some air after the sand storm. He's not used to the desert,_"

Kai ran outside the compound gates, but still within the fenced off territory of New Home; there was a small oasis used as a kind of garden, and that's where she hoped to find him.

XOXOX

The water felt nice; cool and clear, like the Moon Flow. It was shaded from the sun by a high rock face on one side, and palm like trees on the other.

The trees here were too sparse, and too high and bare. The shrubs were small and scruffy, and there weren't enough of them.

The sand was thick and suffocating, and the grit was so coarse it irritated the eyes and skin when they came into contact.

Dustin's heart yearned for his Moon Flow, with its beautiful light displays every twilight and its dense green woodland. His home was there, still under half repair and full of broken memories.

The thought made him recoil further into the recesses of his mind – it helped dull the pain if he focused on the physical aspects of his past, rather than the emotional. The list of complaints about Bikanel helped, too; it gave him something to bitch and moan about and vent his anger at. It was a vain attempt to stop his emotions festering inside, but he didn't know what else to do with them.

"Hey!"

Just great – exactly what he wanted, _more_ company, aside from the voices in his head that kept throwing unwanted visions into his train of thought…

His barely known cousin Kai was standing on the top of the rock face, peering down at him with her prying gaze.

"Piss off," he said irritably, slapping his hand down on the surface of the water and watching the ripples spread out from his violent motion.

"Come back inside, my Ma's worried sick about you running off like that."

"I can take care of myself,"

"Not out here you can't. No one ever leaves the compound alone, and the fiends out here and totally different to Djose and the Moon Flow. Come on, we'll find something for you to do indoors where you can't become a fiend's chew toy."

Dustin stared down at his reflection as the water stilled. His hair was wet and plastered to his skull, and his green eyes had a deadened look in them that matched his wounded heart. Sighing heavily, he dunked himself beneath the surface one last time before he dragged himself from the pool and followed Kai back to the complex. The whole compound felt artificial to him, after a childhood full of trees and flowers and a huge river to play in, the metal and cement encasement was like a coffin, suffocating what remained of his world and killing what was left of his sanity.

Kai was nice enough, but he couldn't find it in him to reciprocate the good will. He let her take him back indoors and went to the swimming pools as she had suggested; there he swam countless lengths back and forth to rid his mind of the badgering voices that taunted his waking moments and haunted his dreams.

It was nice while it lasted, and then the blitz team kicked him out for training – some stupid tournament everyone was making a huge fuss about. After that, he settled on pacing around the compound restlessly until supper, where he grabbed a couple of sandwiches and an orange before departing for his temporary room. Once there, he grabbed his guitar and started mindlessly strumming as he often did since the attack, just trying to keep his hands busy and his mind occupied for a while. He must have fallen asleep at some point, with the guitar still in his arms, because he woke up yelling and in a cold sweat, clutching it as a young child clings to their favourite toy or security blanket in times of distress.

Dustin hated that feeling, of being so small and helpless, but he had no escape from it. He was stalked by the past month of his life both during the day and the night, and unlike a machine he had no off switch for it. Being human, with feelings and emotions, was a curse.

He'd swap humanity for the cool efficiency of his uncle's machina any day.

XOXOX

"Hmm," Rikku hummed to herself, brushing the sand from the tabletop onto the floor in wide, vague sweeps of her hand.

"Something wrong?" Gippal asked, picking the pile of papers off the floor and dumping them on the desk. "Gees, I'm _never_ gonna get all this down!" he stared at the pile dejectedly. "Your Pops' gonna kill me for this…"

"Like he needed a reason to," she snorted, taking up her own notes from the meeting and walking to the door. "I need someone to get that for me," she said pointedly, nodding at the round door handle.

Gippal opened it for her, and walked absently to their shared office to grab a few things before going on a scavenge in the sand. It was a large, overly crowded room – stained rags, boxes of spare parts, junk galore, and a huge poster of the Al Bhed Psychs tacked to the wall. Both desks were covered in heaps of objects; the useful, the ineffectual, and the more prevalent miscellaneous that _would _be useful if only they knew what that use actually was. They dumped their paperwork to deal with later, and Gippal began donning his armour and checking the handheld supply of ammunition for his gun. Rikku sat down and cleared a space to do a bit of work, taking up a piece of machina and deftly shredding its outer coating to little ribbons of metal before she began to dismantle the main bulk.

"What were you humming over earlier, anyway?" Gippal said out of the blue.

Rikku was too used to his random outbursts of conversation to be surprised. "Just the report on Djose. Yuna mentioned that it's getting pretty dodgy round there at the moment. And Baralai said something too in his last message; Nooj had been sending reinforcements in to hold the fort."

"Huh," Gippal grunted, strapping the thick leather around his shoulders, stretching an old Crusader's injury out slowly and painfully. "I'd bet my eye that its just a faze with the fiends, and it'll die down soon enough."

"Which eye?" she said innocently. Rikku met his scowl with a grin of her own after he slammed his weapon down on the available space of her desk, and failed spectacularly to get a response.

"I do wonder sometimes why I asked for your hand," he said, turning his back on her sullenly. "You don't seem worth the trouble…"

"You're just in a bad mood today," she said lightly, thinking of the stress he'd been under lately. "Why don't you take a couple of days off? You could really use it, and I think Dustin might appreciate the company. Tarak's not made much headway with him lately."

"Don't even go there," Gippal pleaded, leaning against the wall by the window over looking the main compound. He looked haggard, which wasn't an altogether attractive look on him.

Rikku stood up and met him by the window, wrapping her arms around his waist, and he laid his head against hers. It took a few moments to regain his composure and said, "I'm fine. Really,"

"Never said you weren't," Rikku sighed. "I don't know…maybe if you just talked to Dusty?"

"And say what? The kid just lost his whole world – and I've lost my baby sister. What do you say to someone like that?"

"You're his uncle," she said sheepishly, "I was hoping you could tell me…"

"Maybe later," he ran a hand through his hair and gave her a loving squeeze. "Not right now, he still needs to grieve."

Rikku nodded, and let him leave abruptly when he announced he needed to round up his team for the foray into the desert. Gippal had never been good with words, and his way of dealing with grief was to throw himself at a broken machina or into the desert where he could focus on something practical, and maybe shoot a few fiends for good measure. Still, even if he didn't seem grateful for her support at the time, she knew that he was really thankful. He just needed to sort his emotions out first, which was difficult when there were a million and one other things that needed his attention.

As the machina on the desk slowly became a delicate pile of scrap metal, the door burst open with a bang and Rikku looked up to see her eldest son sweep dramatically into the room.

"Hey, Ma!" he called, balancing a tower of cardboard boxes in his arms. "Granddad gave these to me, he said you'd know what to do with them."

"What are they?" she left the device in a sorry pile as she went to deduce what in Spira her son was carrying.

"No idea," he dumped them unceremoniously on Gippal's desk, crushing a few objects in the process.

"Was that really necessary?" she chided him, pushing them onto the high backed chair instead.

"Oh. Oops,"

"Yes, _oops_." Rikku said with a smile. "So where did they come from?" she started prising the top one open.

"With love from Bevelle." Tarak said, lounging against the wall, all cool and sophistication with an oil spill running down the side of his face.

Tarak was a tall lad, lean and tanned and blonde, with glass green eyes that had that swirl to the pupils; the epitome of Al Bhed youth. Today, in honour of the sun, he had deigned to wear a white shirt, which was already ripped and stained. His trousers were a sort of dyed black and purple denim material with the ends tucked into his big black boots, which were in themselves stained with paint and oil. But for the lack of an eye patch, he could have passed himself off for Gippal. Well, that and the studded earring he wore in his ear; it was of Zandal origin, made from a curious purple coral that only grew in the far north seas, just beyond Zanarkand, shaped like a Ronso lance head.

"Med supplies," Rikku concluded after searching the top box. "Did they come from the same airship?"

"Dunno," Tarak shrugged. "Granddad just threw them at me and told me you'd deal with it,"

"Typical," Rikku tutted. "Oh well! Help me move these to the infirmary,"

Together they lugged the boxes to the centre of the complex, the job made easier by the fact that they shared the load. They past a few people who nodded politely in greeting, but everyone was in a rush today so there was no time to stop and chat. That is, until the boxes were delivered, and Rikku turned to leave and finish her dabbling work.

"Ma?" Tarak said suddenly.

Rikku paused on the threshold and turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"Can we talk for a sec?" he looked strained now, as though something was slowly praying on his mind, and it was catching up with him.

"Of course," Rikku nodded, and tried to smile reassuringly. It must have been closer to a grimace with the look she got in return as her son walked through the door. "Let's grab something to eat, I'm starving!" she said, towing him to the cafeteria.

They grabbed a tray and loaded it with some fruit and nuts before going to eat outside. There was a sort of courtyard come garden area beside the eating hall made from shale and large flat stones that made pathways around the simple yet complex fountain system set in a formation that echoed the temple Fayth. After the storm, everything was covered in a thick layer of sand, but that didn't stop the six other people outside who were determined to enjoy the clear skies and seated on the stone benches around the edge of the fountains. There was a low wall at one end that cornered off a small pond with huge koi carp swimming lazily in the shaded over hang above their home; it was here that Rikku chose to park herself and eat, and Tarak sank onto the bricks beside her, attacking a pear with great gusto.

When they'd eaten half of the food, he finally piped up about what was on his mind, and it didn't take the gift of foresight to guess what it was.

"I don't know what to do about Dustin." He stated, looking at the mangled nail on his right thumb from where he'd nearly lost the digit in an accident involving Kai and a small saw last week. "I think of all this good, motivating crap I can say to him to get him back on his feet, and then I go see him in person and I can't say _anything_! I just don't know what to do…"

Rikku placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Neither do I. I think it's best to let him grieve for now, get it all out of his system and off his chest, you know."

"Yeah, but then what?" Tarak looked up at her, his eyes full of concern and worry. "He's putting people off at the moment, most of them don't want to go anywhere near him. What if he's put them off for good, even when he starts to settle down? I know the adults are gonna forgive him, but some of the kids round here…" he scowled, probably thinking about the boys he shared classes with on and off in the small education centre in the northern end of the compound.

"They can go stick their head in a shoopuff," Rikku waved them away without much care. "No one round here takes them seriously, or ever speaks highly of them. Dusty has us, he'll be fine once he's come to terms with what's happened."

"I dunno…" Tarak worried his bottom lip to the point where Rikku was surprised he wasn't drawing blood.

"Stop that," she berated him. "Now listen, you know the Ed department's expanding this year?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Rikku smiled. "Well, I got beeped today by Nhadala's cousin – you remember, the one who did that poster for the tournament last year? – anyway, she heard that there was a new building being put up for art, and she's asked if she can run a course here. Your dad still hasn't ironed out the details, but it looks pretty fun – do you think Bayla would like to do it?"

"What, an art course?" Tarak contemplated the thought. "Yeah…last I heard of her she was still mad on painting. Yeah, that's a good idea! Cause then Vidina will have a familiar face round here, and Bay gets to do something constructive,"

Rikku giggled, thinking of her almost-niece, so like her father and in need of a direction to throw her never ending stores of energy in. Bayla probably didn't know what she wanted to do anymore than Rikku did, but she'd been thinking this would be a nice project for her to join in with.

"Is anyone else considering the course?" Tarak asked, pulling her from her reverie.

"Yeah, a few. There's a couple of kids from Guadosalm, a Ronso, various Al Bhed kids from here and Djose – I think about five in total… I know there's a girl from Bevelle and a boy from Kilika who's coming up here in the fall,"

"Wow, it's gonna be even busier," Tarak blinked. "Gees…where will they all go?"

"Warehouse 12 is being converted into dorms," Rikku told him. "Only don't go spreading that around, Granddad wants that a secret."

"Kay," Tarak grinned sincerely for the first time that day. "Hey, listen! You reckon we could get Dustin on a course?"

Rikku considered this idea dubiously.

"You know, keep him occupied and stuff."

"Does he like art? As a subject, I mean,"

"I could ask him. Hey," something else occurred to him. "How many of us are going to the tournament?"

"Well, your father and I are." Rikku frowned as she tried to think of the logistics. "The twins are going – I'd never be able to stop them – I'm sure _you _want to go…"

"Hell yeah!"

"Sicel and Meva are going too, but they'll stay with me,"

"What are _you_ gonna be doing then?" Tarak interrupted.

Rikku patiently explained, "Yunie and I will be baby sitting while your father's off being all official and stuff. Our twins and their twins will be off doing something else, and I'm guessing you, Vidina and Bayla are going to be terrorising Luca while our backs are turned,"

"Is Dustin going?"

Rikku had to take a few minutes to contemplate this, before she slowly said, "I'm going to talk to him later about it. I don't know what he wants to do…"

"Okay," Tarak shrugged, and dipped his hand into the pool. They both sat meditatively for a while before he spoke again. "I'd better get going," he stood up and brushed the dust and grit from his clothes.

"I'm going to go find Dusty," Rikku stood up as well and grabbed the tray. "Don't worry, I'm sure it will all sort itself out sooner or later," she smiled at him reassuringly, to which he grimaced.

"Whatever, Ma…"

"Go on, get outta here!" she nudged him over to the doors and they parted at the first corridor. Rikku set off in search of her nephew, and after half an hour of circling the sports facilities, she was directed back to his rooms.

Apparently, he had been swimming until the Psyches had moved in to practise for the tournament. Rikku went back to their family block and made her way to the spare room they kept for when friends came to stay. She knocked on the door softly, and got no response.

"Dustin? Are you in there?"

There was the shuffle of footsteps, and something inside the door clicked before the footsteps shuffled away again. Rikku gave him enough time to flop back down onto the bed before turning the handle and entering. She had been in here once since he had moved in with them, and not much had changed except the red travelling case in the corner was over flowing with clothes that had once been neatly folded inside.

Dustin was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling with his guitar propped against the wall. His shirt was rumpled, his hair sticking up in all directions as it dried on the pillow, and his expression was stony like a statue.

"Can I come in?" Rikku asked gently.

"You already did." Dustin grunted.

Rikku ignored his menacing tones and walked further into the room, moving the guitar aside so she could sit down on the foot of the bed. She placed a comforting hand on his knee, but he jerked his leg in response, so she kept both hand folded on her lap.

"I have a question for you."

Silence.

"The rest of us are going to Luca in a couple of weeks for the tournament. I was wondering if you wanted to come with us?"

Dustin made a movement that looked like a shrug, and continued to be silent.

"Can you please say something intelligible?"

"Like what?" he snapped.

Rikku sighed. "Sit up." she instructed, and hauled him up off his back.

Dustin wrapped his arms around his legs and glowered at the bedspread, trying to ignore her.

"Look, I know you aren't in the best frame of mind, and I respect that you need time to deal with what's happened. But you can't hide yourself away like this," she reached up to smooth an unruly lock of hair away from his face.

Dustin jerked his head away from her hand and shook it so that his hair fell over his eyes. "Watch me."

"It isn't healthy, Dusty. We're worried about you."

"It's my problem, I'll deal with it."

"You don't have to do that alone, you know…" Rikku knew that from past experience.

"Maybe I want to." Dustin retorted.

"You are being ridiculous," Rikku accused him. "Now, come on! Do you want to come to Luca or not?" Then, in a more gentle tone, "I don't want to leave you by yourself. I'm worried about you." Changing tack, hoping that if he knew how worried _she_ was as opposed to the collective family anxiety, then she would get a more positive response.

Dustin looked up from under his disorderly fringe, and a flicker of doubt entered his eyes.

It took a while, but slowly – he seemed to climb out of his thick shell – he said, "I wouldn't be in the way…would I?"

"Of course not!" Rikku leant over to ruffle his hair – and realised too late that that was the wrong thing to do.

Dustin scuttled back into his shell, and glowered from the other end of the bed.

Rikku sighed. "Well? Is that a yes or a no?"

"Kay," he grunted, picking lint balls from the bed throw on which they sat. "I'll go."

"All right then. I'll see you at dinner," Rikku made to pat his knee again, but thought better of it.

Instead, she got up and left the room without a backwards glance. Outside, she took a deep breath before setting off to liberate Brother of her two youngest children. She found them in the purpose built nursery for families with young children; every adult took turns looking after the kids, and Rikku was due for her share of shifts.

Brother grinned in relief when she walked in, and without so much as a 'hello' or 'how are you?' he thrust the twenty-month-old Meva into her arms and ran from the room.

"Typical…" Rikku muttered to herself, bouncing her youngest son in her arms and making him giggle. "Hey bumpy!" she cooed over him, and smiled as Sicel ran over to hug her legs. "Sicelym! Fryd ec dryd eh ouin ryht?"

Sicel grinned, blonde pigtails bobbing, and handed her a small contraption that probably belonged to Paco or Ruba. Rikku smiled brightly, and carefully rested the thing from her daughter. Once it was safely out of reach, she set Sicel, and the nine other children in the nursery that day down on the play mat and, with Meva perched on her knee, read them all a collection of Zandal fables (translated into Al Bhed, of course).

Most people on the base were at least bilingual – a handful also spoke Zandal with varying degrees of success. There were a couple of Ronso, a few Guado, and many Zandal (who all spoke Spiran, albeit with a myriad of accents), which became confusing at times since there was really no common language between them. Of course, the kids in here were all under the age of eight – in fact Rikku was sure the oldest today was barely five – so they only spoke Al Bhed. Even so, a member of the Jahara tribe had translated this book of tales for Rikku, so they could enjoy them just as much as the children of the tribe.

Luca was just on the horizon in her diary, and Rikku was bubbling over with excitement at the prospect of having the gang back together. Of course, she was feeling heavy with the weight of responsibility around here, and for Gippal's loss – but she knew for a fact things would get better, and that she had known getting married and sticking around Pops would result in being tied down to the base, so she couldn't really complain.

Yuna, Paine, Tidus, Lulu and Wakka…and El too, of course. The dream team – she could only imagine what new trick Tidus had learnt and what gossip Yuna and Paine had from the temples. It was going to be a great week, she could feel it already!

XOXOX


	4. Children of The Stroma

**AN: I honestly thought I was going to get more action into this chapter but nope… xD I think it might be too long winded really… :S**

**Anyways, I'd like to thank **Blackout444 **and** Awoken Dreamer** for your reviews :D I give you both a virtual hug and a slice of chocolate cake! ;)**

**Next time, I will endeavour to put in more action and less standing around and contemplating :)**

_**Children of The Stroma**_

"Zuo takes the ball!" Zuo shouted, zigzagging his way up the beach and crashing into the shallows as he dodged around Vidina. "He dribbles past Vid!" Deka threw herself at him, grabbing the back of his shirt; they both tumbled into the water, but Zuo managed to roll back onto his knees and spring to his feet before she could recover. "Breaks past Deka!"

"Bayla makes a tackle!" his older sister yelled, diving at him.

"Yikes!"

"She takes the ball!" Bayla held it aloft and tore back the way he'd come, but had to swerve violently to avoid Wakka. "Runs circles around Wakka!"

"Come'ere!" he laughed, chasing after her.

"This is it! The tiebreaker, with only one old washed out goalie between victory and embarrassing failure in the league tables," she frowned with concentration until Vidina ran ahead to give her backup should she get caught, and grinned. Zuo tried to tackle her, and she threw the ball to Vidina who caught it one handed, slapping it down to the ground and kicking it so hard it ricocheted off the cliff face, hit Zuo in the back, and bounced straight into Bayla's hands, sending Wakka in circles as he tried to figure out where it had gone. This was Bayla and Vidina's little party trick they pulled with varying degrees of success – today was their lucky day. "With the opposition sufficiently baffled, the final assault is near at hand!"

Bayla looked up to see her father standing in the marked goal area (a rough semi circle scribbled with chalk on the cliff side). He pounded his fists together with a grin and leant forward, ready to jump either way. "I'll show _you_ who's washed out!" he called.

"She lines up the shot," Bayla had to dodge Deka's tackle. "She shoots!" A classic sphere shot, which whizzed past in a blur through the less dense air.

Tidus may have been able to save that goal, if he hadn't caught it with the tips of his fingers and nudged it into the circle.

"Goal!" Bayla screamed waving her hands in the air before performing a victory dance worthy of her Aunt Rikku. "Oh yeah! How d'ya like _that_ shot, dad?"

Vidina bounded over and they started jumping on the spot, whooping loudly. "Ye-heh! You d'man! …Sort of,"

Tidus pulled himself to his feet, pretending to spit sand from his mouth. "I'm too old for this…" he grinned, walking over to join them and clapping his eldest daughter on the back. "Maybe I should just quit while I'm head and let you be captain!"

"Aww, dad!" Bayla whined, giving him a hug, being joined by Deka. "You can't retire just yet! I don't know the first thing about leading a team,"

Wakka laughed. "You did a pretty good job just now against three attackers, ya?"

"Yeah, but that's Vid," she jabbed a thumb at him. "He doesn't really count."

"I demand a rematch!" Zuo stipulated loudly.

"Change the teams!" Vidina clambered, aiming a punch at Bayla's face. "Since you don't like playing with me,"

"Don't take it personally!" Bayla laughed, dodging his strike and aiming a hook punch which connected with his side. "I get bored of everyone."

"So, how will we split?" Zuo asked, cracking his knuckles before picking the ball up from the sand.

"Guys versus girls!" Vidina crowed.

"Err, hello?" Bayla flicked his ear, having to reach up as he towered over all – including his father. "There's only two of us here!"

Tidus pushed Zuo towards Wakka. "I'll go with them,"

"Ha!" Zuo pointed and laughed.

"Hey, Uncle Ti, there something you're not tellin' us?" Vidina laughed.

"Screw you guys!" Bayla shouted over the uproar, flinging an arm around her father's neck and grabbing Deka's wrist to drag them both away from the others. "We're the dream team!"

"Yeah!" Deka whooped, jumping and pumping her fist in the air.

Bayla looked up at her father, who was smiling benignly and waving at her brother, who scowled and stalked off to formulate a plan of attack with Vidina. Wakka came over, laughing heartily and shook them all by the hand, earning a quick hug from Deka.

"May the best team win, eh?"

"We plan to," Tidus smirked, and laughed when Bayla shooed him away. "So!" he said when they'd retreated twenty feet and stood in a huddle. "What's the plan?"

"I'll take Vid," Bayla said at once, looking back over her shoulder and studiously watching him stretch his muscles. "That way you two can flatten Zuo."

"What about Uncle Wakka?" Deka asked, having to stand on tiptoe to be anywhere near as tall as they other two; she was tall for her age, but Bayla and Tidus were even taller – she still had some catching up to do.

Bayla scoffed at the thought of Wakka being a problem, but her father laughed and said, "He's up to something. Deka's right, we'll need to keep an eye on him,"

"Up to what?" Bayla drawled, making a show of looking over her shoulder. "He's almost as washed out as you!" she teased. "Just look at him,"

"Yeah, see the way he's talking to Vidina?" Tidus pointed out.

"Yeah, he looks pretty serious…" Deka chipped in.

Both men looked up and they immediately focused their gaze within their own little huddle.

"Okay, I admit it," Bayla conceded. "He's a problem. What's the plan, dad?"

"Me?" he snorted. "You're the one with the plan! I'm just a wash out, remember?"

"Okay, okay!" Bayla laughed while her little sister giggled. "You're an ace and we're gonna die out there without you!"

"Heh, _knew_ you'd see things my way," he winked. "Alright, here's what we'll do…"

Bayla loved the summer, it was the best time of year; school was out, training was less intensive, and she got to spend more time with her father. Today the Auroch's training had been cut short due to injuries, which were in the process of, if not already been treated, and would resume tomorrow. The practical upshot of this was that, Wakka and Tidus had a whole afternoon – and the kids had no homework to turn in. It was essentially a win-win situation all round.

With a plan formulated, they lined themselves up along their make shift court and stared the opposition down. Bayla snorted at the face Vidina pulled at her, and shifted her weight forward, ready to pounce on the ball. Deka had to be spun round with her eyes closed and then made to stand in between them with the ball to throw into the air, in an attempt to make it impartial. Someone would be unintentionally favoured either way, since she was always so dizzy afterwards that the ball went wildly off course.

True, today Vidina was in luck, and Bayla had to flatten him to get the ball back. From the corner of her eye she saw Zuo in goalie, and Deka running to do the same. Wakka ran at her head long as she pelted down the beach, before suddenly veering off to the side and ahead – to block her line at the goal.

Vidina tackled her, but she kept hold of the ball and the moment she got a chance she sprang up and launched herself sideways away from the goal, yelling, "DAD!"

Tidus tried to get round Wakka, and failed, but he motioned for her to throw the ball, so she dropkicked it in their direction. Tidus put his hands on Wakka's shoulders and used the leverage to lift himself high enough to head the ball. Zuo – too cocky to see the move coming – dived for the ball and failed to stop it getting in.

"Yeah!" Bayla punched the air and whooped loudly before Vidina tackled her to the ground. "Hey! Get off!"

"You cheated!"

"Did _not_! Did you see the blatant advantage Deka gave you?" she demanded.

"That move's not allowed above water!" Vidina insisted, tugging at a lock of hair that always fell across her eyes. "Ever read the hand book?"

"Piss off," Bayla snarled.

A fight nearly broke out, but Tidus picked her up and flung her over his shoulder, carrying her across the beach as she kicked and screamed to be released.

"Cool it, will ya?" he said, dumping her beside Deka.

"Let me at'im!" Bayla demanded. "I'll scrape his eyes out with a rusty spoon!"

"A hot ladle would be best," Deka threw in, and the other two stared at her. "What?" she asked, flicking an errant lock of hair away from her eyes. "It makes sense if you didn't want to get caught committing the crime. Rusty spoons leave too much evidence."

Bayla exchanged looks with her father, who turned his back on them and walked a few paces away – eyes cast to the ground and hands on the back of his neck – before saying in deadened tones, "I really fear for the future of this family."

"What? Deks would make a good crime investigator." Bayla defended her younger sister.

"I don't like crimes," she said dreamily, giving Bayla a huge wink. "They're very offensive."

"And the conversation ends here," their father cut across just as Bayla was about to resound.

"But dad!" they whined in unison, gearing up for a good long bout of heckling.

"What if someone killed you in the night and we had figure out the mystery of it all?" Bayla asked, barely containing her grin.

"We'd have to go on an adventure to find out, and we'd need those anti-offensive-crime skills to do it!"

Tidus waved them away, and sent a pleading look over to the guys across the beach. They laughed at his plight.

"Don't you _want_ to be avenged should this ever happen?" Bayla asked, hugging his arm.

"Who says I hacked someone off enough for them to want me dead?" he asked irritably.

Bayla looked up, and saw the playful spark in his eyes, and grinned widely. "Haven't the faintest idea, Daddy."

"But what if it was one of the Goers?" Deka asked, standing aside from them and flapping her arms in the air like a Spira Gull. "Settling an old score? You remember how angry Bickson was last season when you were still on the Aurochs, and he's retired now! Maybe he'll get so jealous that he'll try to bump you off, and-!"

"What's all this then, eh?" Wakka had given up waiting for them, walked over and slapped Tidus on the back. "Sounds a bit ominous to me."

"Oh, it's nothing," Tidus shrugged and brushed the notion off. "Just discussing my inevitable doom at the hands of Bickson through a plot filled with jealousy and hatred, wrapped up with rusty old spoon and a piping hot ladle."

Wakka stared into the distance for a moment over the open ocean, before slowly turning his gaze back to Tidus. Bayla, Vidina and the twins were all falling over with laughter.

"Whatever, Bud. Just don't make a habit of it, ya?"

"Can you imagine it?" Zuo grinned, wielding an imaginary weapon. "Then we'd have to go string him high by his toes in revenge!"

"With a fork and a fish knife," Bayla said seriously.

"What?" Vidina exploded with laughter. "What the hell we gonna do with that!"

"Simple!" Bayla did a little twirl before pretending to cut up some food and eat it. "We get to have dinner _and_ a show!"

"A show where you watch some poor wretch hang upside down fro a tree with kitchen utensils stuck in his eye sockets?" her father raised an eyebrow. "Rather morbid, don't you think?"

Zuo blinked. "What's 'morbid'?"

"Dipshit…" Bayla muttered. She squeaked when Tidus flicked her ear painfully, and jumped behind Vidina.

"Play nice with your brother," he said sternly.

"Heheheh…" Vidina grinned. "Your face…!"

"_Your_ face!" she snarled, raising her hand to gouge at his dark eyes.

It was about to get out of hand when Deka started jumping up and down on the spot and pointing towards the pier.

"Look! Look! It's the ferry!"

They all stopped to look up, and Bayla pushed Vidina out of her way so she could reach the pier first.

"Hey!" he yelled after her. "Wait up!"

There was only one scheduled ferry to Besaid today – the one from Kilika, which they had been anticipating for the last month or so since they'd received word from New Home.

They had to vie for position on the narrow walkway, and when the twins finally caught up they nearly went overboard. Instead, Bayla grabbed Deka and shoved the younger girl in front of her, where she could keep her sister from falling into the water while Vidina wrestled Zuo out of the way.

"Where is she?" Zuo demanded, scrabbling at Vidina's hand that was pressed against his forehead, holding the boy at arms length.

"You know," he lamented to Bayla as the boat slowly pulled up alongside the pier. "This just isn't fun anymore." He gave Zuo a disapproving look. "It's just not the same when you're so much taller than they are, ya?"

"Look!" Deka started bouncing again, and pointing as the crew started tethering the boat to the pier and the first passengers began to disembark. "I don't see her." Deka's face fell.

A young Guado woman wearing camouflage-patterned clothes cut in a military style lugged a large crate onto the pier at the bottom of the gangway. She smiled pleasantly at them before scurrying back onto the boat. They heard voices on the other side of the deck, and then they started cheering when Elodie finally came into view.

"Hey kids!" she waved, nearly dropping the chest held between her and the Guado. "Just a sec there, guys."

They carried the chest down onto the pier and dumped it on top of the crate, just in time for the gang to mob her while the Guado stepped out of the way, laughing as she went.

"El!"

"Took your bloody time!"

"We missed you!"

"Did you bring us anything?" Zuo asked, scrabbling at the bulging pouch tied to the belt around her waist.

"I missed you too, Zu-Zu!" she said, grabbing the young boy and squeezing him till he was blue in the face, trying desperately to get away from her. "Deks! By the Cat's Whiskers, you've grown!" she stepped back to measure the height with her hand. "You'll be taller than me at this rate!"

Deka squealed and flung herself into the woman's arms, before Vidina pushed her out of the way and Bayla slipped in.

"Ah! Bayla, Bayla, Bayla!" Elodie flicked Bayla's fringe out of the way too see her better. "You need to stop growing too!"

Bayla grinned and hugged her, receiving a traditional Zandal greeting of a kiss on each cheek, followed by kissing Elodie on the forehead.

Elodie à Stroma was a tall, slender woman with the dark olive skin of the Northern Tribes, and eyes the colour of emeralds. Her hair was raven black, but as was customary for a shaman of her people, it was bound up in many intricate braids and many of them were dyed a different colour corresponding with the Zandal lunar calendar. Today, the mass of beads and feathers woven into the hair were brown and yellow for the Earth Spirit – come the fall they would be light, airy pastel colours for the Air Spirit's season, before turning bright and bold for the Primer Spirit who governed the phase over New Years. The Zandal were always easy to spot a mile off because of these elaborate hair-dos, especially shaman who normally had more feathers and colour.

The one exception for the colour rule with Elodie was a singular braid that often slipped over her ears and dangled around the side of her face; it was a moderately long braid, with no dyes and a jet stone carved with faded silver markings at the end above a long black feather that was looking slightly worse for wear. Bayla knew the story for this mourning braid, but she had never discussed it with El; that was something too private to ask about.

Much like the Guado standing by, Elodie was also currently in full jungle kit – looking far more like a corporal on duty than a researcher. Long dark green trousers stained with dirt and muck, a baggy grey t-shirt that could have been any colour when it was new, with a thick parka jacket in worn away brown with the Al Bhed's insignia stitched into the front pocket. A huge backpack with many kitchen utensils strapped to the back and a pair of jungle grade hiking boots completed the look of total disarray on the clearly mild terrain of Besaid Island.

"Well!" she clapped her hands together before turning to the Guado beside her. "It was a real pleasure to work with you the last six months," they shook hands firmly, both grinning. "I'd better let you get back on board before this lot carry me off,"

"Walk yourself, you lazy-!" Vidina began, laughing. Bayla elbowed him in the gut.

"I can see you're very popular," the Guado woman said with a smile.

"Well, ya know," Elodie put an arm around Deka's shoulders and pulled her into a one armed hug. "That's why I go away so much so I don't have to put up with them,"

Bayla started a dog pile just to annoy Elodie, but the others all pitched in unexpectedly and they were left dangling off her while trying to continue breathing as they laughed themselves silly. It was just like old times!

"Okay, okay! I take that back! Let _go_!"

"Never!" Deka giggled.

Elodie looked up and the Guado started laughing, unable to contain it. "Well El, I'll leave you to it. I'll see you back at base sometime?"

"Yeah, sure thing," she gently disentangled Zuo from her left arm. "Take care Lucy, I'll see you round!"

They all waved to Lucy as she got back onto the boat, the crew calling for departure, and eventually let go as Tidus and Wakka arrived at the pier just as the boat sailed away from the coast.

"Hey!" Tidus waved wildly before running ahead of Wakka, who was also grinning.

"S'cuse _me_!" Elodie nudged Bayla out the way and met him half way. "Ti!"

They embraced, and tried to squeeze the breath out of each other before kissing each other on the cheeks in greeting.

"So you decided to drag your sorry butt back home!" he said, slapping her on the back, and earning the same in kind.

"Now would I miss my brother's tournament?" Elodie pouted. "Besides!" she turned and pointed at the boxes laying forgotten on the decking. "I thought you'd like to see what creepy crawlies I've been working with the last year."

Bayla's interest was piqued instantly, and judging by the look on Vidina's face, so was his.

"Really? We get to see it first?" he grinned like a little kid at a festival.

"Sweet!" Zuo descended upon the chest with enthusiasm.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Elodie warned, adjusting the many beaded bracelets on her right arm. "It might just bite back."

Zuo gave her a wary look before backing off – as did Deka and Bayla, leaving Vidina standing by the boxes, bemused. The last time Elodie had visited she had said the same thing, and Zuo had fallen foul of the snapping turtle in one of the boxes she had brought with her.

"Where exactly have you just come from?" Bayla asked, but Wakka shoved Tidus out of the way to give El a hug.

"Hey, you forgot about me!" he boomed, laughing jovially.

"By the Fayth, how could I forget Uncle Wakka?" she laughed, hugging him back. "I have a favour to ask!" she smiled sweetly, and Wakka walked away immediately. Unfazed, she turned to Tidus and said, "Give us a hand, will you?"

Between them, they managed to lug all her equipment back up to the village; El and Tidus carried the chest between them while Wakka took the crate, and Vidina took the errant camping gear as Bayla struggled along behind him with Elodie's enormous backpack with its cooking accessories clanging in her ears. They were all laughing and joking about what El could possibly have in there, and they had just gone on to the finer points of a master plan to take over Spira through the use of mutant shoopuffs when they arrived in the village.

People walking by greeted El warmly, but no one stopped to talk; everyone was getting ready for the tournament (half the island were going to be in Luca that day) and they knew by the sheer volume of boxes that she needed to dump it all before they could have a serious conversation. That, and the comment of, "And then you could inject hormones into the shoopuff milk to make everyone more docile…" from Bayla's father earned them all a few curious looks. Everyone was too used to his outrageous comments and warped sense of humour to do much more than bat an eyelid.

El would be staying with Wakka and Lulu, purely because there was more room on their couch than with Bayla's family, and after the gear had been dumped the woman raced off to find Yuna. After the initial rush of hugs and salutations, they set about making dinner, and by the time the sun was dipping towards the horizon that evening they were all sitting outside round the back of Bayla's house with a huge mountain of food before them and the prospect of a great conversation ahead.

"So tell me," Tidus said, helping himself to Lulu's potato salad. "Where is this remote place from which you've just returned from where we could never get a good enough reception to talk to you?"

Elodie, now wearing three quarter lengths in patchy greens and a black and white striped sleeveless shirt along with her favourite collection of bracelets and bangles, was likewise piling her plate up and took her time in answering.

"Some isolated island in the middle of the ocean _way_ out to the west of Bevelle, covered in jungle and mountain terrains, and so humid you could practically play blitz outside just as well as in the sphere pool." She had to stop in her story telling for a moment because she was wolfing down as much food as possible. "Ah, by the gods! I miss your cooking so much, Lu!"

"Glad someone's enjoying it," Lulu smiled at Zuo who was poking at a hard boiled egg on his plate.

"What about the food you had at the camp?" Bayla asked, dieing to hear about everything. Elodie always had the most amazing stories to tell when she visited.

"Yuck!" El pulled a face, making Tidus laugh. "Disgusting! Vacuum packed crap that tasted like cardboard seasoned with chopped up rubber."

"What did the label say?" Tidus pushed.

She grimaced. "Chicken."

"Sounds tasty," Yuna said daintily, her nose wrinkling at the thought.

"I would rather eat my own boots to be honest," she sighed dramatically before taking a draft from the pint glass before her. "But then again, the insects would have eaten my feet."

"So…" Zuo said deliberately, not looking at Elodie as he drew out his question.

Bayla narrowed her eyes at him, knowing full well what he was up to.

"Bring any samples back this time…?"

"Oh yeah, tonnes of them." El said conversationally, grabbing the salad bowl before Wakka could get a look in. "But _don't_ go fishing around in the crates. There's a live jungle scorpion in there, and I know what you lot are like." she stared very pointedly at Vidina and Bayla, and they both feigned indignation.

"What?" Vidina gasped.

"Don't you trust us?" Bayla whined.

"Nope," Elodie said brightly, eyes darting between two bowls before her. "Oh dear, the pure _agony_ of choice. Spicy chicken or garlic and mackerel?"

Tidus stabbed his fork into the remaining chicken breast so fast Bayla had to blink, and leaving Elodie with only one option.

"Alright then," she pretended to sneer at him, but the effect was ruined by the laughter from around the table. "Fate decided for me."

"I figured you'd had too much," he raised his hands to emphasise the quotation marks. "'Chicken' on this…where did you say it was again?"

"Some…random island in the middle of nowhere," she waved it away. "Not really important. The only interesting things there were the flowers to be honest. _Huge_, great big trumpet things that looked like moon lilies and changed colour during the course of the day. Oh yeah, the _crocodiles_ were pretty interesting too, come to think of it…"

"Nothing else?" Zuo asked, disappointed.

"Well…" Elodie stared up at the deepening colour of the sky thoughtfully. "And on a completely unrelated matter, seeing the sky again is _so_ nice. Anyways," she looked back down the table at Zuo. "There are a few ancient ruins around, but no one knows anything about them except that they're just sort of there."

"What, nothing at all?" he looked severely put out. "Bo _ring_."

"How old would you say?" Bayla's father looked mildly interested.

"Pre-Machina War, by _at least_ two thousand years. Some Guado git the rest of us couldn't stand was banging on about seven on account of the sever erosion to the stones that make up this step pyramid."

Tidus raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"What do you think?" Lulu asked.

"Heavy acid rain erosion, personally. That and there's a gaggle of jaguar type creatures that inhabit the area and we nearly got eaten by them running recon, and I think they wear the stones down as well. Plus one of them had a litter actually inside one of the stone blocks making this thing that I guess was once a set of statues inside it, so I assume they have a part to play too…"

Deka giggled. "Yeah, you clearly got eaten didn't you El!"

"Oh yeah," she remarked in all seriousness, waving an arm that was clearly still intact. "Blatantly, I mean just look at me,"

"Nice scar though," Tidus prodded her arm, and Bayla noticed for the first time a lurid pink line slicing through one of the many tattoos on her forearm.

"Oh, _that_." Elodie's expression hardened. "Chasing after a bloody escaped tarantula and tripped over a crate. Fell _right_ into the barbed wire circling base camp."

"Ouch!" Bayla winced in sympathy as she took a better look at the angry pink line that cut through the beautiful stylised chocobo in yellows and browns on her arm. "And through your choco-tat too."

"Meh," she waved it aside. "Could have been worse. The wound got infected and I spent the next two weeks in a delirium in which I apparently rambled on about how I was married to Maester Kinoc, Sin was playing the bagpipes,"

Vidina howled with laughter, and Bayla had to thump him on the back to stop him from choking.

"And then for some strange reason I still can't figure out," Elodie pointed her fork at Tidus. "I kept saying I had to get back home because you had burnt all the cookies."

Tidus sniggered. "Now would I do a thing like that?"

"Probably," Yuna cut in before El could come up with a good come back.

"Heheh," she grinned. "Ti got told. My day is complete!"

"Just one question," he leant forward, and so did El, so that they could whisper loudly and everyone at the table would hear them. "Bagpipes?"

"Not a clue." She hissed back, making the twins giggle. "I was in a delirium and a raging fever. I don't remember any of this. What do you want from me?"

Tidus leant back again, settling into his seat, and frowned at her. "But, just…" he spread his hands helplessly. "Bagpipes! What?"

Elodie shrugged grandly. "Dunno. I don't remember a thing except standing by the water cooler the guys rigged up for the computer geeks in the main tent, and then sitting up in bed and being told I'd gone completely gaga for a fortnight."

"I wish I'd been there to see that," Zuo said.

"Well, if you're a good boy and do your homework I may take you on a field study one day."

"Oh please Dad!" Zuo begged of his father. "Please! I'll do anything!"

Bayla snorted. "No way! You're afraid of spiders, imagine living in a jungle with _tarantulas_ and _scorpions_ and bugs that bite you in uncomfortable places."

"Eww," Vidina said tonelessly. "I just lost my appetite.

"Well, if you're not gonna eat that…" Deka said hopefully, eyeing his remaining cold pasta in Lulu's famous secret sauce. She grinned when he pushed his plate over to her. "Thanks Vid!"

"So!" Wakka said, turning back to Elodie. "Anything else interesting happen?"

"Well, there was the flood, and the many storms, and the many, _many_ mosquitoes. And trees, loads of trees come to think of it."

"Anything interesting in the research?" Tidus hedged.

"Actually yeah," she looked very thoughtful – not at all light hearted and joking like before, and Bayla listened intently while trying to tune out Deka and Zuo fighting over the last bread roll.

"We _might_ have found an antibody that guards against rabies. As in – you know – stops you from contracting it full stop as opposed to the shot you can get that gives you an extra twenty-four hours to seek medical help."

Tidus whistled. "Gees, how'd that come about?"

"Well," El was in full scientist mode, and she talked for nearly an hour about how they had extracted the antibody from a type of beetle that lived off the nectar of a flowering vine, and found that they synthesised it into a component of their blood. Apparently, it had many qualities of the known rabies shot you could get hold of with extreme difficulty, and when a team member had been bitten by a sort of wild dog, they had tried it out as a cure – and _both _researcher and dog had survived.

Bayla was hooked on every word, and when they were taking the plates and bowls indoors she said, "I wish _I_ could do your job. How cool would that be?" she grinned at the thought of travelling to distant places and having cool adventures like her parents used to with Aunt Rikku and Aunty Paine.

"It's not glamorous, I'll tell you that for a start." Elodie said, starting the washing up with Yuna. "It's hard work, dangerous, and you never know what's gonna happen next."

"Yeah," Tidus dumped a stack of plates into her hands with a grin. "Glamorous has an antonym, and your name is next to it in the dictionary!" he dodged the towel she tried to whip him with, and danced out of the house laughing.

"Oh my God!" Elodie rounded on Yuna, brandishing her tea towel. "How do you put up with that _Baka_?"

"It's a skill," she said seriously. "Honed over many years."

"I need a couple of _millennia_." El scowled at the doorway, making Vidina and Bayla laugh. "Why, just _why_ did I adopt him into the Stroma family? Seriously," she was still ranting when the other two walked out to help the clear up operation. "He doesn't _deserve_ to be named Tidus à Stroma. On the other hand, _you_ deserve a medal for putting up with all his crap-"

"Charming!"

"I mean it! If it were me, I would have found a way to accidentally on purpose drown him in the old inner harbour on the east side of Zanarkand by now with all those sharks around…"

"The Stroma don't even _go_ to the ruins anymore, do they?" Vidina asked, grabbing the glasses strewn across the table. "They gotta wait for the one summer every decade to graze the livestock. And it's been _fifteen_ since the last one!"

"I know, they think there's somethin' wrong with the soil there, or maybe its just been too warm that far north for too long." Wakka said, piling bowls together while fishing out the remaining food to box up before the flies caught wind of it.

It was about that time Bayla stopped paying attention to the conversation and looked out across the acre of land her family owned at the back of their house. There were trees at the far end, leading into the forest where she and Vidina had built a tree house when they were ten and twelve; the whole area was fenced off with a makeshift wall from thick sticks of wood, sharpened at the tops to deter animals from jumping over the top, and driven into the ground. The gate was weighted to swing shut, and there was a loaded spring attached to the lock so that it always stayed closed when it swung back – all to keep the seven chickens they owned from being eaten. Said chickens were in their narrow but long wooden house at the other end of the garden, probably fast asleep; they were a Zandal breed, and they always went deadly quiet after the sun began to set. Incidentally, they were quiet most of the time unless they were provoked or scared, which made them excellent guard dogs.

There was one tree in particular, standing in the adjacent corner to the chicken house, with huge branches that supported two swings – one on either side. One was simply a plank of wood with a rope through the middle of it, which was Bayla's favourite, and the other was a regular, conventional swing with rope on either end of the plank. The tree was still in full bloom, and Bayla watched its limbs play in the slight breeze before looking over her shoulder at the family totem driven into the ground by the gate; it was segmented into six equal sections, in accordance with the Zandal customs of adoption.

At the bottom on ground level, Elodie's spirit wolf was sat with its tongue lolling out in a sign of friendship, and above that was her father's totem – the water dragon – with wings that spanned out either side. On top of that was the cat of the air, with its tail wrapped around its front paws that signified Bayla's mother. Then there was Bayla herself, another water dragon but with different, more wave like designs carved into its scales, with its wings more towards the back of the pole and held upwards at an acute angle. Then there was Deka, the beautiful intricate fire phoenix with its wings tucked closely to its body, much like the cat's tail; and proudly sitting atop the pole as the family's youngest member (by a full half hour) was the earth bull for Zuo, with its horns facing skywards.

It was a neat little cultural perquisite that came with being an extended member of the Stroma Tribe; Aunt El had adopted Sir Tidus as her _Ne'er Lastra Buut_ or her 'oath bound brother' about a year before Bayla parents got married. That automatically entitled his own family to some of the more cool perks of the Zandal customs, like the amazing tattoos they had. El was _covered_ in the things, and as a Shaman she had special ones the only showed up under black light as a glowing mass of colours. Even her parents had a few themselves; Tidus because he was by rite a son of the Stroma, and Yuna because, well…High Summoner's are honoured and revered like that.

"Hey,"

Bayla jumped when Vidina poked her in the ribs from behind. "Yikes!"

"You staring into space again?"

She scowled at him.

"Stop day dreamin' about the tatts you're never gonna get." He went back to the table, that only needed relieving of its cloth and napkins and then the job was finished.

"Says who?" she said irritably, stalking after him to help.

"You're too fond of Besaid to want to leave it so soon." He said evenly, shaking out the cloth before she helped him to fold it. "And you'd never spend six months working just to get the rights for the initiation ceremony. Just cause Uncle Ti's a recognised adult, doesn't mean you are too."

"Pfft, don't remind me!" Bayla said, nearly dropping the cloth. "Oops! Sorry…"

"S'okay, ya? Look, shake it out to get the grass off,"

"Hey, Vid?" Bayla said eventually when they had neatly folded away all the fabric items left outside and piled them messily into each other's arms.

"What?"

"If you had a Zandal tatt, what would you have?"

Vidina shook his head, grinning in a pained manner. "Not this again!"

"Just asking!" she defended herself.

"Well…a hydra would be pretty cool, ya? Maybe stylised or with that charcoal effect on the one your dad's friend has of the dolphin on their back. You remember, the crazy blonde from the Jahara?"

They laughed and discussed various patterns and designs as they returned the cloth to his house before going back to check in with her parents. Deka and Zuo were begging to go on a late evening walk down to the beach, while Lulu and Yuna washed the dishes. Elodie had her mini computer out on the table and was showing Tidus and Wakka the photos she had taken while in the jungle.

"Hey dad?" Bayla prodded him in the shoulder.

"Wassup?"

"Want us to take the babies for a walk?" she offered – he had the harrowed look of a man who wanted some peace and was clearly not going to get any at this rate.

"Take your sword with you," was all he said, and the twins whooped loudly at finally getting their own way.

It didn't take long to get down to the beach, and the fiends went scurrying away from them as Vidina lazily cast Fira every few feet on the way down.

"Keep that up and I'm gonna be carrying you home, the energy your wasting." Bayla teased when the finally walked onto the sand. "Or I might just drag you by your ears, that sounds like more fun."

"Ha ha." Vidina scowled.

Zuo and Deka ran off to try and find the rock pool they had found earlier, since the tide was far out now and they were after shells for their collection. It was funny how they got on each other's nerves so much, and yet they still loved doing stuff together – a bit like how Bayla and Vidina got along. A priest at the temple had once said that they were sure to be destined to fall in love.

Good old Aunty El had read off their tarots when they were still under the age of five, and laughed so hard she had nearly choked. Some Shaman, and not including Elodie, could read the tarots very well; El had predicted that they would both find someone, but it wasn't each other. She couldn't tell more than that because it was a trick of the trade from the far western tribe of the Lasia'austra, and she didn't know half the symbols, let alone their meaning.

Vidina was the best almost-big brother in the world; Bayla was trying hard not to think about it, but she was going to miss him fiercely when he left for Bikanel. Clearly this was written all over her face, because Vidina put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to the ground before dropping down beside her.

"Something's up." he stated.

"Yeah…" Bayla kicked at the sand in annoyance, and getting sand clogged in the heel of her shoe. "OBS…" they had a saying that she had OBS – open book syndrome – because Vidina could always read her mind like the prayer book that still lay open in the temple, forlorn and unloved, as no one would pick it up except for him.

"C'mon! You can tell me,"

"Just that…" she plucked a strand of beach grass from the clump growing out of the cliff face and started weaving it into a ring. "I don't want you to go away just yet."

"I gotta if I want to get a job. Working on New Home would guarantee me a place with _any_ organisation in Spira! Great references…plus I'd get a lot of experience out of it."

"I know, I know…" it was hard for Bayla to swallow her pride, but Vidina would bully it out of her eventually, and she might as well tell him willingly before he started pinching her. "I just wish everything would stay the same for a bit longer. I don't like it when everything changes this quickly!" she started ranting about how everyone she had known in her classes for the last _Fayth knows_ how many years were all going on to bigger and better things – and she still had no game plan.

"You'll get there eventually," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You just need a bit longer to come outta your shell, ya? Just take it one step at a time. Besides! I'll write to you, and send you loads of spheres!"

Bayla gave him a weak smile. "Every week?"

"Everyday if it makes you happy." He insisted.

"Oh!" Bayla flung her arms around his neck. "Now you're making it worse!"

"How?"

"Cause I'm losing my big brother _and_ my best friend!" she wailed.

"Aww, I didn't know you cared so much!" Vidina grabbed her in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles into her scalp. "Ain't that just adorable, ya?"

"Hey-! What – the – let go! Vid! Seriously, that _hurts!_ What the spectra _hell_ is your problem? Get – off – me!"

When he eventually let go she punched him and stalked off down the beach. "Git," she snarled.

Vidina laughed and followed her. They stopped by the fishing boats, looking out at the moon over the tide; slowly making it's way back in towards the twins. Everything was quiet and calm – just the way Bayla didn't like it. She liked having some action, and having fun, only she just wasn't ready to face all the excitement of the big wide world beyond Luca; the furthest from her home she had ever been was Bevelle by airship, and the furthest she had travelled by foot and hover was to the south side of the Moon Flow. She wanted so desperately to go and live a full life of adventure and intrigue, thinking up so many intricate professions that always ended in a daydream about meeting someone and falling in love before settling down somewhere like Besaid.

But of course, life never worked out that way – and she was too chicken to admit to her parents that she had no idea what to do with her life.

"Vid?"

"What now?"

"What do _you_ see me doing as a career?"

"Somethin' cool."

"Great help there," she said scathingly.

"What you want me to say?" he demanded. "I can't live your life for you, or write your own story. Only _you _can do that. Like my dad always says, 'You gotta make your own story – and it'd better be a good one!'"

"But," Bayla finally caved and admitted her biggest fear to him. "I don't _know_ my own story! I don't know _anything_. I don't know what direction to take, I don't even know what I'm _good_ at…"

"You're a good musician," Vidina counted them off on his fingers. "You're and amazing painter, you're a great blitzer…I can stop if I'm embarrassin you," he teased.

"Stop it!" Bayla laughed, swatting at him with her woven ring. "Good thing its dark out, my face must be the same colour as your hair!"

"It'll come to you," Vidina said more seriously. "I think you just need to fall into it in your own time. Me? I can't wait to get off this island! I mean, I love Besaid cause it's been home for the last twenty years but…" he bit his lip and looked down the beach to the pathway back to the village. "_Promise_ you won't tell?"

"Not a soul," Bayla agreed.

Vidina raised his hand and extended his little finger. "Pinkie swear?"

"Deal," she raised her own and they shook on it.

"I feel like I'm trapped here, like I can't spread my wings. I know my dad means well and all, but…"

Bayla patted his arm comfortingly and said, "He's been a pain in the butt since you started sending out application letters. I think you're doing the right thing. I know I'm being a bitch and whining at you about ditching us but…" she smiled. "I can totally see you off doing all that cool adventure stuff like El."

"I can't wait till I get sent off to study the finer attributes of a scorpion's pincer, ya?" he laughed.

"Rather you than me, dude."

"Think I could find something to do in the mean time?" Bayla asked, looking towards the pier over their shoulders, knowing that in two days time they would be on that ferry for Luca.

"Talk to Yasmine about it when we get there, ya? I'm sure she'll have a fresh spin on things.

"Yeah…" she sighed deeply. "I really miss Yas. I wish we could see her more often…"

"She's got other stuff to do," Vidina shrugged, but she knew he was wishing in vain as well. "The Praetor's daughter…man, you got it so easy."

"Meh," Bayla shrugged. She was lucky her parents had drummed it into their heads that being the children of a High Summoner did _not_ entitle you to any privileges. Her father had said, "You're only worthy of note when _you_ topple a ten foot fiend with a bad attitude, _or_ you can perform a perfect Jechet Shot three times in a row. Come back and brag to me when you've done that." She _still_ hadn't even managed two in a row… It was easy in Besaid, where everyone knew everyone else, back countless generations, and knew you as an individual – in the rest of Spira she was High Summoner Yuna's daughter, or to the die-hards blitz fans as Sir Tidus' girl. She was only ever _just_ trouble making Bayla in this tiny close-knit island community, where her friends and family knew the real her.

"Broodin' again?" Vidina poked her right between the eyes to indicate the line that had formed there. "What is it this time?"

"I guess…part of being scared about going into the big wide world is that I'm just some saviour's daughter, and not some random girl trying to fit in. I'm gonna be labelled that way for the rest of my life, I just wish I could do something that people will remember me for that has nothing to do with my parents."

Vidina nodded; he was in a similar boat. "But we're pretty good at giving the reporters in Luca the slip, ya? Don't worry about it! One day you'll be revered just as much as your mom for doing something just as heroic!"

Bayla snorted with humourless laughter. "Tell that to the statue in the temple," there had been a huge fuss made over it when it had been finally erected – her mother had hidden herself away for a week until Tidus had dragged her outside again.

"You're gonna be amazing one day," Vidina insisted. "And people will remember you for what _you_ did. I just know it,"

"How can you _know_ that? I don't even know which direction I'm going…"

"Call it a brotherly instinct. That, and El always said it's a shame I won't ever go into Shaman training. She said the next time a Lasia' drops by the base when we're both around she'll get them to teach me the tarots."

"Oh great, a Vidina tat can read the future – I'm screwed!" Bayla laughed.

"It's true! I got the makings of a Spirit Walker! Ask her yourself when we go back."

They continued joking about what they would do in the coming years, keeping an eye on Deka and Zuo until they eventually had to leave when they got too tired.

XOXOX

"Jesus Christ!" Tidus stared at the picture before him, unable to believe his eyes. It was a scorpion all right; only judging by the human arm held out above it on the workbench to emphasise the scale, it had to be about six feet long.

"I know, right?" El said, pulling sheets of paper from a folder and passing them over. "Long dark and creepy. I had to sleep next to a tank with one of those bastards in it!"

"Rather you than me," he said, cringing at the thought. "Man…that makes the ones in the Calm Lands look like shrimps!"

"Taste like shrimp," she said thoughtfully.

"Oh Fayth, you _didn't_…" he was going to be sick.

"Had to check. I pulled the short straw," she added. "I seemed to get the short straw a lot, to the point where the others started taking on my duties because they felt bad for all the crap I had to do."

"Rather you than me…" Tidus grimaced at the thought as he flicked through the other research pictures, which all seemed to include too many arachnids for his taste.

"So what's next?" Wakka asked, scanning down the sheet of paper she had just handed over.

"I have to do a bit of digging round here actually. Some weird and wonderful coral that doesn't grow anywhere else…oh yeah, and they want me to take a look at the underside of those ruins about a mile offshore – you know, see how the ecosystem's coping with the mineral build up of some random metallic element…"

"Fun times," Tidus drawled, then sniggered at the photo before him of Elodie grabbed in a headlock by a Guado. "What's the matter, Sis? Getting beaten up by kids half your age?"

"Huh? Oh, _that_," she scowled at the screen. "After I came round from being loopy they thought it was funny to start a fight. I tipped him into the river,"

"Ha!"

"…Which happened to be infested with piranhas."

"Not so cool."

"Nope,"

Wakka laughed. "Is it true they can strip a carcass in seconds? Or is that just an exaggeration?"

"Yeah, the fauna round here's dull as hell…" Tidus rolled his eyes. Those fishy bastards had taken one too many chunks out of his arm over the years…

"Actually, we trialled that and took a short film of it. Rather icky," Elodie snatched the computer back and found the file before showing them.

"Eww!" was the general consensus.

"What is it?" Yuna wondered over with soapy hands and a dishcloth. When she saw the tail end of the clip, where the haunch of meat given to the three subjects in a large tank set on the ground was nothing but disintegrated bone. "Oh!" she pulled a face and turned her back. "Do you _have_ to show that off here?"

"In the interest of science – yes. And to see the look on your husband's face," El laughed.

"Remind me to _never_ go on a research trip with you."

"Actually, I kinda need someone to help me out at the ruins. I was hoping I could drag you along with me,"

"Kay. But no piranhas!"

"Relax! Those ones are purely a fresh water jungle species that wouldn't thrive here. It's too cold and dry by their standards, and anyways – Besaid piranhas don't like the open ocean. It's all good!"

The kids came back at that moment, and Elodie hastily slammed the lid on her computer. It was an unspoken rule that they weren't allowed to witness such violent material, such as that rather disgusting display of indecent aquatic appetite she had just shown him. Adoptive sister she may be, but they both knew that if Elodie ever crossed the line when it came to his children Tidus would tear her throat out.

"Bed you three," Yuna said, shooing them towards their rooms.

"I'm the eldest!" Bayla snapped. "I can stay up later."

"Bed," Tidus said flatly.

Bayla looked as though she was ready to argue back, but she slumped after Deka instead and left the others to it.

"Well," Wakka stood up and started for the door. "See ya tomorrow for training."

"Bright an early," Tidus wasn't looking forward to it…he loved blitzball, but the tournament training hours were such a bummer.

"Na ha," Elodie laughed lightly. "I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn anymore."

"Bully for you," he sighed, and leant forward on the tabletop, massaging his temples.

"I really hope I get a long term project next, closer to home." She went on. "Rikku's scouting out places for me, but Gippal's going ballistic at the moment cause there aren't enough old hands going round, so I just end up wherever he needs me basically."

"Heard about the fiend problem," Tidus looked up at her as she sorted paperwork out. "You got anymore news on that?"

"That's news to me. I only just landed back in society yesterday. Hence the mud caked clothes I pitched up in today," she shuddered at the thought. "I had the _best_ bathing spot until the crocodile rolled up and stole it from me. You realise how hard it is to find a new bathing spot every day?"

"So jungle – like or don't like?"

"Could do without the mozies," Elodie said with a nod. "Plus, it was so far away and I missed you guys!"

"See ya Uncle Ti," Vidina punched him playfully on the arm. "Mom said goodbye too,"

Tidus looked up. "Where's Yuna?"

"My house. She'll be back in a sec,"

"Kay. Night, Vid."

"Night El,"

"See ya round kiddo," she waved after him. "So!" she rounded on Tidus once it was quiet. "How's it going with Bayla?"

Tidus groaned. "I don't know! She hasn't got anything planned yet – at least she hasn't _said_ anything. And even if she did I don't want her to go!"

"All gotta go sometime," she said flippantly.

Tidus raised his eyes to the ceiling and tried not to retort. It wasn't fair to point out she had no kids of her own. There were several reasons for this; firstly, her soul mate had died long before he'd even met her, secondly she had never met anyone else she wanted to be with, and thirdly she was barren anyway. That's the main reason why she had become a Shaman in the first place, and while she was brilliant with children she couldn't fully appreciate how it felt to let your own offspring go.

"And I know you're pissed off with me now," Elodie added, filing everything away to deal with later in her huge binding folder.

"What do I do?" Tidus turned to her for advice. "I know she's gotta fly some time, and I have to help her do that, but how can I when I don't even know what she wants to do?"

"I have a feeling Luca will clear it all up," she wasn't looking at him; instead the folder seemed to be far more interesting.

"Wait, why'd you say that?"

"Met a guy – Guado named Cassius – and he actually reads the tarots pretty well. Said that someone in my life was worrying over something that hadn't happened yet and that the answer lays near the sphere. Didn't take me long to figure out what the tarots were telling him. Just relax,"

"This is my eldest child we're talking about," he said indignantly. "I can't just _relax_."

"Well I could smack you round the back of the head if that would help," she offered.

Tidus leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. El had a dry, sarcastic way with words; he had always found it easier to relate to her, since she had been an oddball in her own right even before he came onto the scene. She moaned and bitched about him constantly to his face, but she hadn't kicked him out of her family yet, so he was fairly certain she was still fond enough of him.

"You got any ideas for her?" he asked, wondering if she had been giving it any thought as well.

It took a while for Elodie to reply, and when she did, her words surprised her. "What about a medicine woman?"

"Huh?" where had _that_ come from?

"Well, she's good with people, and heating flasks. And she's _very_ bright. It occurred to me on the boat ride to Kilika, and I think if she had the right training she'd be pretty good at it. Plus she's in with the Stroma, I mean; we have the best medics the Zandal can offer. Even if I couldn't teach her myself I know loads of people who would take her in and train her up."

Tidus blinked. "Wow. I hadn't thought of that. Wonder what she'd think of it…"

"Don't ask her now," Elodie interjected. "Wait till I've sprung the test on her,"

Tidus laughed. The 'test' was something he'd been subjected to, and it involved finding your place in the Zandal hierarchy – your totem spirit and the best vocation you were suited for. He was a _Forward Warrior_, which was the equivalent to an Old Yevonite Summoner's Guardian – El was a Higher Shaman, while Yuna was on a whole different plain to both of them.

They each bore the marks of their position; El had the black light tatts of the thirteen lunar spirits, as well as the glyph of a healer in regular ink over her heart, while Tidus had various bits and pieces he had cobbled together over the years. He had a sort of family crest on his left shoulder blade, incorporating the head of Yuna's old staff with three glyphs for his children: Peace, Tiger Lily and Joy. He also had the shadowing of El's family symbol in a faint red on the back of his right hand, hardly noticeable at all unless you looked closely (And in return El had the crest of Zanarkand on the back of her own right hand). There was also the Hymn Of The Fayth, in a beautiful, flowing script that changed colour with the spectrum all the way down his spine that El had spent three months working on to get it absolutely perfect.

This one had to be his second favourite tatt, because when a person was adopted by a Zandal it was customary for the adopter to design a special tattoo, and she had sprung it on him as a surprise after he had passed the second birth trials to be initiated as an adult into the Tribe.

It was all very Native American and Avatar-ish, but it still gave Tidus a great sense of pride knowing he was a part of it.

"So," he said slowly, contemplating as Elodie stuffed her research equipment into her satchel of infinite holding. "How will you do the test on her?"

"Eh," she shrugged, not looking up from her bag as she forced the small computer in on top of the written paperwork. "Probably just get her to play a game of cards and use the tarots instead. That normally works and she'll probably be too busy trying to catch up with everyone else to notice I'm plotting and scheming."

Suddenly another thought hit Tidus, but he waited for Elodie to sit up, and when she did and saw the look on his face she groaned.

"I know that look…" she muttered, pointing accusingly at him.

"A thought occurs," he began.

"May my doom be swift a painless! Go on Sparky, what is it now?"

He paused, just long enough to draw out her suffering, before saying, "Researcher?"

It was a long while before she responded, a very thoughtful expression on her face, and by the time she had a answer Yuna had returned and insisted they had to go to bed since Wakka was still up waiting for El, and both men had to train early next day.

"Hmm," Elodie picked up her heavy satchel and hung it from her shoulder. "I will apply my fiendish mind to the matter and get back to you on that."

"Take your time," Tidus drawled, standing up with a grin. "No hurry here."

"Hate you," she said, giving him a hug. "Missed you like hell, though. But I still hate you."

"Hate you too!" he said cheerfully.

Elodie turned to Yuna and gave her a hug as well. "Thanks for another fantastic meal! I shall now grace you with my absence and see you in the morning."

"It's great to have you back," Yuna said with a smile as they walked to the door.

"What can I say? It's great to _be_ back," El set off across the village for Vidina's house, waving a cheerful goodbye.

It wasn't long before Tidus was sprawled on their bed, yawning widely and waiting for Yuna, who was going through the ritual of removing all her jewellery; earrings, bracelets, necklace, but not her rings.

"Do you _have_ to do that every single day? Just leave them on or off, it'd be way easier." He said when she was finally ready.

Yuna gave him a prim look before crawling into bed next to him. "I like wearing them during the day, but they dig into my arm at night, and you always complain about my earrings." They both avoided brushing the subject of the one time she had nearly choked herself with her necklace. It had been the scariest thirty seconds of Tidus' life, and he had no wish to have a replay.

Probably just to spite him, Yuna lay down with her back to him and hunched her shoulders. It took about a minute of attempted cuddling before she relented her iciness, and laughed. Not that Tidus would ever admit it out loud, but an old shaman from Elodie's tribe had once said to him that he had a worrying amount of influence over Yuna, and he knew to some extent that was true. But in all honesty, he had to whine and wheedle a lot before she would cave in, and when she really, _really_ did not want to do something, more progress would be made trying to convince a brick wall to do his biding.

"El's right," she said, giggling. "Why _do_ I put up with you?"

"Hmm…" Tidus pretended to take the notion very seriously, gently taking her left hand in his and playing with her fingers. "I have no idea. I don't see it myself to be honest…" he ran his thumb over the ring on her third finger.

As her laughter died down, they both contemplated this, and Yuna raised her right hand to mimic his movements over the ring on his own finger.

Their wedding bands were arguably Rikku's greatest gift to them – arguable, because Yuna often cited that her unyielding friendship was, and Tidus still maintained that it was these rings. They were made of white gold, and Yuna's was set with three small diamonds while Tidus had three precious stones called _Jhuba Tsu_ (meaning 'the liquid sky' in an old Zandal dialect). Both bands were etched with delicate designs; Yuna had a floral pattern while Tidus had a wave motif – the best thing about them was that if you held the two together at the right angle, you could clip them together and swing them round so that they clamped together to make one ring.

They didn't know who's idea it had been, because everyone denied it except Rikku who would give them a superior smirk and flounce away without an answer. Then again, that was Rikku's favourite tactic for winding Tidus up, so trying to force a confession was a moot point, especially when no one else would own up.

"Oh, many things…" Yuna said vaguely, letting go of his hand to reach for the bedside lamp.

"Huh?" Tidus had been so wrapped up in his musings that he'd forgotten what they had been discussing.

"_I_ can see them, even if others can't." she said, settling down in the sudden darkness. "Because _I _can see past my nose."

"Isn't that a bit difficult though? You ever notice how no matter _where_ you turn your head, you can _still_ see your nose?" he laughed loudly when she smacked him.

"Just shut up and go to sleep," Yuna grumbled.

"Yes dear," he grinned, kissing the hollow below her ear.

XOXOX


	5. Luca Stadium

**AN: I feel that this may have dragged on a bit too long, but we'll see how it goes xD next chapter may jump around from place to place a bit, and I'm going to try and be a bit more in depth with some of the characters. I think I may have skimmed a bit too much over Andi and Yasmine, as has been brought to my attention, and I will endeavour to rectify this! :D**

**Reviews will be rewarded with virtual cookies and hot chocolate! ;)**

_**Luca Stadium**_

Yasmine couldn't remember the last time she had felt this giddy; she and her parents had been in Luca for a couple of days, and Gippal's family had been delayed in arriving, so it had been just her and Andi. Although presently, Andi was engaged in some private matter her mother had whisked her off to, so it was just Yasmine waiting eagerly by the dockside for the ferry from Besaid.

Was giddy the right word to use? It kept modulating into nausea every so often as she wondered whether Bayla and Vidina would remember her clearly, or if they would still be friends after so long. She knew she was just working herself up, and some small part of her kept telling her everything would be fine, but still, it was hard to ignore the doubt that was gnawing away at her insides.

Yasmine's father was inspecting a ferry timetable tacked to the pillar of the dock close to the covered way, while her mother sat on an upturned crate with a book in her hands. Yasmine's own book lay beside her in neglect; she was too wound up to even consider trying to read.

"Bit late," Baralai murmured, checking the time. "I suppose the tide wasn't with them when they left."

"Summer tides this far south are the weakest," Paine said vaguely, turning a page.

Yasmine sighed as quietly as she could before looking up and out over the harbour. They should in theory have been here ten minutes ago, and any one of the dozens of ships and boats she could see from here could be theirs. As the ten minutes dragged on into fifteen, and then into twenty, her heart cycled between beating frantically and slowing down to a sluggish glug in her veins before breaking out into a sprint again.

When the time had dragged on to twenty-three minutes, she jumped as a hand placed itself on her shoulder. Wide eyed, Yasmine looked up to see her father smiling down at her.

"See?" he motioned towards the water's edge. "They got here eventually."

Following his gaze, Yasmine saw a boat slowing pulling up alongside the dock, and her mother slipping a marker in between the pages of her book before standing up.

Heart _really_ pounding now, Yasmine clasped her hands behind her back as her parents both stood behind her and waited for the imminent meeting. Her mouth and throat went dry and she struggled to swallow against the nerves that had gripped her; but there was no turning back or retreating now, especially not when her mother's hand was on her shoulder, like an anchor.

Painfully slowly, the boat docked, and crewmembers jumped onto the pier to pull out the gangplank, and then the passengers began to disembark.

Butterflies were spiralling out of control in Yasmine's stomach, and she still couldn't see anyone she knew alighting from that boat!

"Taking their time," her mother muttered darkly to herself, giving Yasmine a comforting squeeze. "I bet Tidus is holding them up…"

Sure enough, someone familiar walked into view on the deck, blonde and tanned and suddenly retreating again before coming back with a Bergen slung over his shoulders. Yasmine could hear him faintly from where she stood, shouting to make himself heard over the noise on the boat.

A boy she instantly recognised as Zuo jumped off the railing – bag and all – and skidded down the gangplank, coming to a halt about three feet away from the dock's edge with a pleased smirk. Yasmine's heart gave a great leap when Bayla ran after him, punching his arm and clearly ticking him off for pulling such a stunt. And then Wakka and Yuna walked down to dry land too, followed by Deka and Lulu.

Why hadn't she noticed Yasmine yet? Suddenly all her fears came crashing down on her and she wanted to burst into tears.

Then Vidina nearly bowled Bayla over, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her round to face away from her younger brother and towards where Yasmine's family stood. At first, Bayla scowled at being forced to move, but then her eyes slid to Yasmine, and her expression changed instantly.

At first, it was a mask of blank shock, which instantly cracked wide open into a huge grin, and before Yasmine had time to register the change in mood Bayla screamed and started running at her.

A smile spread across Yasmine's own face, and she took a few steps forward towards Bayla – but she needn't have bothered. The girl had always been long in the leg, and she fairly flew across the space between them, and before she knew what had happened, Yasmine was gathered up in a tight hug and making the most undignified and girly sounds that made her feel like a young child again.

"AH!" Bayla practically lifted her off the ground. "By the Fayth!"

"I missed you!" Yasmine wanted to cry now with relief.

"I missed you too!" Bayla was bouncing on the balls of her feet, and reluctantly let go to hold her at arms length. "Wow! You actually _grew_! You could have caught me up!" her grin was infectious, and Yasmine couldn't help herself from grinning back.

"Look at you!" she said, tweaking the collar of the t-shirt she wore – Zandal Tie-dye with an Al Bhed design of a fish in the centre. "You've grown so tall!"

"Wait till you see Vid up close, he's a bloody giant!" Bayla looked over the top of Yasmine's head and grinned at her parents. "Hey Aunty Paine!" she let Yasmine go and flung herself at Paine.

"It's wonderful to see you again," she said sincerely, hugging Bayla back with a smile.

Bayla also hugged Yasmine's father in greeting, and when the initial rush of excitement seemed to abate Yuna strolled over with a grin almost as big as her daughter's.

"Do I get a hug?" she asked, still walking forward with her arms held wide.

Paine gently pushed Bayla aside and grabbed Yuna's hand, pulling her forward before both women laughed. Yasmine smiled as she watched the reunion, but Bayla drew her attention away to the left where the others were. Vidina was striding over, dumping his bags as he went, also grinning, side by side with Bayla's aunt Elodie.

"Hey!" Vidina practically shouted, grabbed Yasmine and pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Hi Dia," Elodie said with a grin, ruffling Yasmine's hair as she went by. "Just the man I'm looking for!" she said, sidling up to Baralai. "I have…" she fished into one of her many pockets. "I have I have I have…aha!" she pulled out a flat disc like sphere and handed it over. "For the love of all that's sacred and pure _don't_ lose it! I wasted a year of my life on that research and if it gets botched up before it reaches the archives I will be out for blood!"

Vidina laughed and let Yasmine go, gasping for air once her lungs were unrestricted. "Yeah! She's been bitchin' bout it for a whole week, ya?"

Yasmine couldn't help but stare up at him as Bayla's father swooped out of nowhere and hugged Baralai before peeling Paine out of Yuna's arms.

"Paine!" he whooped. "How ya been?"

"Hey Twerp," she deigned to give him a smile.

Surely, _surely_ Vidina hadn't been _that_ tall…had he? Yasmine had remembered always having to look up to see his face, but craning her neck almost all the way up? His hair was a disarray of bright red spikes of varying lengths, held back with a deep aqua coloured bandana; his skin was deeper than Bayla's, a sort of brownish gold that matched his warm hazel eyes. A fine smattering of stubble was growing across his strong jaw line, a darker shade than his hair.

"Wow, look at you!" Vidina laughed good-naturedly, playfully tugging at the large sleeve of her formal shirt. "It's been way too long!"

Yasmine opened her mouth to speak, but words didn't seem to want to formulate themselves. It was only when Bayla slapped her on the back and flung her arms around her again that she found she still retained the ability to speak.

"Spira to Yas! Come in Yas!" Bayla laughed. "You wanna go get something to e-?"

There was another loud squeal and Bayla was flung out of the way as Deka ran over to them. "Yasmine!" she shrieked, hugging her almost as tightly as Vidina had.

"Deka!" Yasmine laughed, holding the girl out at arm's length.

Deka giggled, and flicked her head to one side for a moment to dispel the hair that was slowly creeping into her eyes. She was the most tanned out of her siblings, and looked exactly like a younger, more feminine Tidus; Yasmine had always found her eyes intriguing, how one was dark blue, and the other was partly green, partly lighter blue. Then, with a start, Yasmine realised that little Dekan Memo was taller than her by a good couple of inches.

"How ya been?" the girl gushed, bounced on the balls of her feet. "We missed you so much!"

"Yeah," someone snorted sarcastically, and Zuo mooched over, hands thrust deeply into the pockets of his hoody, looking as though he wished to skim over the formalities as quickly as possible. "Bay hasn't shut up about it all week."

Bayla made a rude hand gesture at her brother, making Vidina laugh and attracting her father's shrewd gaze.

"Everything all right, kids?"

"Yeah!" Vidina put a hand on Bayla's and forced it down. "No worries here!"

"Git," Bayla hissed at no one in particular.

Yasmine smiled, and stepped forward to greet Zuo. He instantly flinched, staring at her wide-eyed even though he was now taller than her and clearly no threat at all. He was almost exactly as Yasmine remembered him; messy dark hair, a more olive tone to his dark skin, and deep green eyes that lacked the Al Bhed's signature swirl. It was with full knowledge of what she was doing that she advanced upon Zuo, now over the shock of seeing Vidina and Bayla again.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Zuo," she said gravely, placing her hands on his shoulders before rolling onto the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek as he leaned as far back as he could without having to move his feet to avoid it.

Bayla howled with laughter at his expression as Yasmine stepped back, bowing as she went.

"Ha!"

Vidina laughed as well and said, "Hey, how come _he_ gets a kiss? It's enough to make any guy jealous!"

Yasmine blinked and stared at him with a terrifying lurch in her stomach. But…why was she even afraid? This was only Vidina, her long lost childhood friend. What was so scary about a playful request for a kiss, which he clearly didn't take seriously himself?

But Vidina leant down, tapping his cheek with a finger and looking expectant.

Bayla, seeing Yasmine frozen with terror, stepped over and gave him a big kiss on the proffered cheek.

"EW!" Vidina retreated, rubbing furiously at his contaminated cheek and swearing loudly so that his father had to rebuke him.

"Hee hee!" Bayla walked over to Yasmine, cackling with malicious glee. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and rubbed it down Yasmine's arm.

She looked down at it with an expression of disdain and said, "Thank you."

"You're most certainly welcome," Bayla had a spark of mischief in her eyes that Yasmine knew so well.

They both had to cling to each other for support until they stopped laughing. When they finally did, Yasmine got hugged by Lulu, Wakka, and Tidus and Yuna, before they started off to the hotel they would be staying in for the duration of the tournament.

The logistics of this were a bit more complicated than Yasmine had previously thought; for one thing, they received a message telling them that Rikku and her family would be arriving shortly after a long delay, and then her father came over to them huddled on the balcony to ask them about sleeping arrangements.

"Do you mind sharing a room with Andi and the twins?" he asked apologetically of Bayla. "I don't think they will be enough room for all of us – the hotel manager just asked me,"

"No problem!" Bayla waved it away vaguely. "If you want I'll sleep on the _floor_, I'm not that fussed to be honest."

Yasmine smiled as her father walked away, and looked up at Bayla's face. Her hair was wind swept at the moment, and apart from the length, it had barely changed at all; her eyes still mirrored the ocean, and her skin was still that naturally pale tone despite the long hours she spent in the sun. Bayla noticed her gaze and looked down to meet hers.

"Problem?"

"Is it appropriate to say that…" Yasmine said hesitantly. "You look like you have, but really you haven't changed at all?"

Bayla grinned in response. "Say away! I know it's true, I doubt I'll ever be anything other than-"

"Annoying and loud mouthed," Vidina shot in.

Bayla punched his arm as he laughed at her.

"I hate you, you bastard…"

There was a loud scream that made both Vidina and Bayla jump to their feet, startling Yasmine into thinking they were about to be attacked. Then Andi raced past and tackled Bayla to the floor with another scream.

"BAYLA!"

"Ack-!" she struggled to sit up, but when she saw who it was she squealed and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Andi!"

"What in the name of…?" Wakka had come over to see what the commotion was all about, to find Bayla and Andi on the floor giggling like they were five years old.

Andi bounced up and hugged Wakka, before descending on the others with the same enthusiasm, leaving Bayla looking heart broken on the decking.

"Don't you love me anymore?" she whined, pretending to cry.

"Aww, there there!" Vidina put his hands underneath her arms and heaved her to her feet. "We still love you!" he gave her a loving squeeze, to which Bayla tried to wriggle out of it with a look of disgust on her face.

"Your love is unwanted! Be gone, foul demon of the Farplane!"

"You called?"

Tidus had walked onto the decking with a large water bottle in his hands, grinning at them.

"Dad!" Bayla whined. "Help me!"

"Sorry, no can do." Then to Vidina he said, "The rest of the Auroch's got here five minutes ago, so your father and I are gonna go train now. We'll see you all later,"

"See ya Uncle Ti!" he waved cheerfully as the man left, then laughed as Bayla shrieked at him.

"Let me go you great Behemoth!" she snarled.

XOXOX

It was late that night that they crawled into bed, and Yasmine lay awake for quite a while afterwards staring at the ceiling as she listened to the others slowly fall asleep. The whole evening, and indeed that afternoon had been a whirl of reacquaintances and hectic fun.

The Al Bhed had arrived in force, and Yasmine had been passed from one to another to say hello, being collared by the twins for much longer than anyone else while Bayla bounced around demanding to know what had been going on recently in their lives. Tarak was much more down to earth and responsible than Yasmine remembered, while Rosie and Kai were just the same as they had been years ago – still at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Their brothers', Ruba and Paco, were just down the hall from where Yasmine now lay, sharing a room with Zuo in the same suite as Tarak and Vidina. The youngest two, Meva and Sicel were sleeping with Rikku and Gippal in a suite to themselves.

Much to her mother's displeasure, Yasmine's parents were sharing a suite with Leblanc and Nooj, while Bayla's and parents were sharing with Lulu and Wakka quite happily. Elodie had managed to wind up with the smallest single roomed suite in the whole hotel _right_ at the top of the highest rickety staircase.

Yasmine grinned in the darkness at the memory of earlier, when the woman had been asked about sleeping arrangements.

"I'll sleep on the roof if I have to, I don't care!" she had said flippantly, and then fumed when Tidus laughed at her given accommodation.

Right now in the girls' room, Yasmine was sharing a double bed with Andi by the French windows onto the communal balcony, while Bayla and Deka had curled up together on the folded out sofa bed in the opposite corner, surprisingly fast asleep already. Andi was periodically shuffling round into a more comfortable position before getting bored and moving on. Next door, the twins were sharing a smaller room with two single beds, and they were both as quiet as Bayla and Deka.

Yasmine eventually fell asleep after Andi, and slept peacefully until she was jumped on the next morning by an excitable Bayla.

"Come on!" she bounced on the mattress, making Andi thrash around in alarm before tipping herself onto the floor in her panic.

"Bayla!" Yasmine gave her an almighty shove so that she slid off the end of the bed onto the floor with a loud thud. "It's seven in the morning! You wanted a lie in, go away!"

"There's a market on the High Road!" Bayla crawled onto the bed again, grinning and undeterred. "My mom just came in and told me. Let's go already!"

That girl just wouldn't take no for an answer! After half an hour of whining at them Bayla won by default, because the other two just wanted her to shut up. It was a surprise to find that Vidina and Tarak were already waiting downstairs for them when the girls finally reached the dining area.

"Mornin'!" Vidina called across the room, waving his fork in the air like a beacon.

"Up early, are we?" Rikku said with a grin, sitting at the next table along from the boys, balancing her youngest child on her knee while Paine held Meva and Yuna spread butter on Paine's toast.

"She wouldn't shut up until we did," Andi grumbled, yawning widely and stealing the roll from Vidina's plate.

"Hey!" he objected loudly.

Yasmine smiled at Rikku and Yuna. "Good morning,"

"Morning!" Yuna set the toast in front of Paine, who thanked her, before turning to Rikku. "Marmalade?"

"Oh yes please!" she said. "I'm starving over here!"

Yasmine settled down in the chair beside Vidina, while Rosie went to get herself some iced tea. There was a large teapot on the table already, and Bayla took a good whiff before pouring herself some.

"Rooibos," she told Yasmine, pushing a cup towards her.

"There's vanilla as well, ya?" Vidina showed her his own mug.

Bayla stood up and leant across the table to sniff his cup before taking a draught. "Oh wow! Where can I get some of this?"

"Over there," Tarak nodded at the long trestle table that Rosie was standing by.

"Be right back!" and she raced off to get herself some tea.

"I'm good with just coffee," Kai shrugged, tossing a mass of braided hair out of the way of her food. "Good sleep?" she said to Tarak.

"Meh," he waved her away. Then, in Al Bhed, "Luiceh taletat du hud pa culeypma."

Yasmine blinked; it had been said very quickly so she did not catch the entire drift of the sentence, except that _luiceh_ meant _cousin_. Vidina gave him a grave look, and neither boy said any more on the subject.

After breakfast had been consumed (a wonderful Zandal fry up of mushrooms, bacon, eggs and toast) they went back to their rooms to get ready for their outing. Yasmine had asked her mother timidly if she could go, and Paine had just laughed and shooed her towards the stairs, saying that she didn't even need to ask.

There was a hold up when Rosie decided that she had to change her shoes because they weren't right for walking Mi'ihen, and then they didn't match her outfit so she had to go change. Kai was sitting on the stairwell outside their suite in a state of despair while they waited, but eventually they left for the streets of Luca, heading towards the stairs to the High Road in a fit of high spirits.

Yasmine had actually forgotten how much fun hanging out with Bayla and Vidina was, even though she had been certain that she had kept those memories near the front of her thoughts for years now. She walked in between them, with Tarak on Vidina's other side, and Andi on Bayla's; Rosie was heading the procession with Deka, talking excitedly about what they were going to buy, while Kai carried Meva on her back with Ruba and Paco chatting away happily in Al Bhed with Zuo at the rear.

The conversation was light, free of political angles and strategically crafted plans; today, Yasmine was just a normal teenage girl going out to a festival with her friends and anticipating the up coming blitz tournament. She had let Andi talk her into wearing a strappy summer dress in green and yellow with white flowers along the hem of the skirt; Vidina and Tarak had complemented on how pretty she looked, and that had made her blush so furiously that Bayla noticed and laughed as she carted them all through the front doors.

Bayla herself was wearing khaki shorts, and a light white t-shirt with a hood sown into the back, with the symbols for her father's old blitz team printed on the back and the Aurochs logo on the front, with her many bracelets and bangles littering her forearms, and well as the three rings she owned. Vidina had gone with plain yellow trousers and a plain blue shirt; Zuo was wearing his hoody from yesterday, while Deka sported a knee length purple skirt and a plain tank top. Rosie was in red, oddly enough; a beautiful pastel coloured skirt and floaty pink top that matched her gold jewellery. Kai had slapped on orange shorts, yellow tank and thick walking boots without a care for her sister's disdainful look.

Tarak was in the usual dark purple for him, setting the example to his young brothers, who all had similar trousers but different shirts; Tarak wore a black t-shirt with the Psyches logo, Paco sported a shirt that may have been any colour once upon a time but was now grey, and Ruba wore the scruffiest top Yasmine had ever seen with several rips in the back.

They got quite a few looks as they walked past, and Yasmine worried that they might be tracked down by a reporter because of their status and who their parents were, but when she voiced these fears to Bayla she laughed.

"I'd like to see them get past Vid," she said with a grin.

Her point was proven when a man came running over to them with a microphone and a sphere camera hot on his heels. Vidina spun round and puffed his chest out, standing up to his full and appreciable height, glaring the man down. The poor man looked as though he might faint with freight, and he retreated on the double with his lackey trailing behind, shooting them confused looks.

"Did you see his face?" Zuo sniggered loudly as they left the square and climbed the stairs. "Practically shat himself…"

Laughing all the way to the top, they stopped in their tracks when they saw the full scale of the market before them. There were food stalls selling sweet and savoury snacks, marquees of clothes, blankets spread on the dusty ground with beautifully carved objects set in neat rows, and thousands of boxes of shiny jewellery.

"Oh _Fayth!_" Kai bounced on the balls of her feet, looking wildly from side to side down the stretch of road as though she didn't know where to run to first.

Bayla gasped, and grabbed Vidina's arm. "They have _Flean _cakes!"

"I call shot gun!" Zuo shouted and ran head first into the crowd.

"Not after me I little git!" she yelled, racing after him. "I'm the eldest!"

"Hee hee," Andi giggled. "Look at'em go!"

Deka pushed her way past and shouted, "Wait for me!" desperately, not wanting to get left behind.

The rest of the day was thoroughly enjoyable, and Yasmine felt as though it had been only last week that she had been together with her friends like this. She ended up with Bayla and Vidina for much of the day, as they broke off into smaller groups; it wasn't a surprise that Rosie and Andi were poring over fashion designs and ideas together, so Yasmine was free of her clutches.

As much as Yasmine loved Andi, she was a bit too intense at times; Bayla on the other hand, as fierce a friend as she was, also kept a step back to allow for breathing space while still being within arms reach. She didn't expect anything of Yasmine except a good laugh; they tried on some masks at a stall and made Vidina jump when they cornered him with them. Far from forcing her to buy some fashionable clothes that went together, Bayla only once forced something onto Yasmine, which turned out to be a _beautiful_ sarong that could be worn over the top of a skirt in a stunning set of sunset colours.

"It goes with your soul," Bayla said with a grin, and Yasmine bought it instantly.

For lunch they all congregated on the look out point just below the stairs to the High Road, eating the Zandal pancakes they had bought from a vendor down in the square, before running back to play the carnival games.

By the time they headed back to the hotel, it was well past suppertime, and the sun was beginning to set. After a quick shower all round – and a change of clothes – they went back downstairs for a quick bite to eat before lounging around on the balcony.

Yasmine basked in the warm glow of her old friends, sitting at the same table as Tarak, Vidina, Bayla and Kai. Next to them, Elodie was engaged in a fierce game of cards with Rosie and Andi while Zuo watched with Ruba. Deka and Paco were playing with Meva, while Rikku walked up and down the decking with Tidus who was holding Sicel, chatting animatedly about the tournament in Al Bhed and having a friendly argument about who would win.

The rest of the adults were indoors, nursing drinks around the bar or dancing on the laminate floor to the old school music playing. The air was thick with laughter and animated conversation; it was a wonderful feeling.

Bayla bought them all a round of drinks, forcing the alcohol shots in the soft drink onto Yasmine to taste, then going back to get her some wine when she didn't like it. Vidina, after much scrounging, found a guitar in the room next to the main dinning area, and sweet-talked the cleaning maid into letting him borrow it.

Once it was in his possession he flung it at Bayla and yelled, "Give us a tune!"

Gratifying him with a smirk, Bayla hooked the strap over her head, settled her hands into position to play a few scales and check the tuning, before she started playing an Al Bhed sea shanty. After the first verse Rikku and Tidus had come over to listen, and Gippal came outside from the dance floor to sing along loudly and boisterously to Bayla's tune.

As the sun finally dipped below the sky completely, leaving the sky a beautiful deep blue, Yasmine looked up from her wine glass and met Vidina's gaze. He grinned, and raised his beer bottle to her before taking a swig. Yasmine responded with a smile, sipping her white wine.

Life didn't get any better than this.

XOXOX

Dustin wished he had just stayed at the base, now that Tarak was constantly on at him about getting out and doing stuff. Was it too much to ask to be left alone? He didn't _want_ to go to the markets or the festas, nor did he want to take part in the general blitz hype; he had never been a big fan of the game anyway, and he didn't see why he should give in and let his cousin bully him into joining in.

He spent several days this way, but eventually he was turfed out of the room he had been sleeping in by the cleaning lady, and so moodily walked around Luca harbour by himself, trying desperately to avoid running into Tarak or Kai. He needn't have worried, because they had left him a note saying that they were hanging round in the stadium, trying to keep the best seats for the opening game that day to themselves.

It was far too noisy on the streets for Dustin's liking, so he sort refuge in the first place he could find that was quiet; it was outside the locker rooms of the Al Bhed Psyches, but all blitzers in were inside already, waiting to hear the match up draws. His uncle walked by to talk to the Psyches' captain, and gave him a weak smile before asking how he was doing. Dustin grunted and shrugged, not meeting his eye, and Gippal left him alone – but not before a blonde man came running into the hallway.

"Gippal!"

"Hey Ti, Wassup?"

The man handed him a slip of paper. "Match ups were actually done yesterday, but no one told us about it. Here's the time table for today, it's kicking off with the Fangs and the Glories first."

Gippal whistled long and low. "That'll be interesting,"

"And we're up against the Psyches first," the man grinned brightly. "_Do_ give my love to your team, won't you?"

Gippal gave him a narrow look before shaking his hand, making the man laugh when he tried and failed to crush his fingers.

"Can't show favouritism!" he waggled a free finger at Gippal.

"Get out of my sight before I set my doomsday weapon on you," he snapped, though he couldn't keep the scowl in place for long

"See ya in the knock out stage!" the man turned and left with a spring in his step.

"Bloody Aurochs…" Gippal muttered, going back into the locker room with the paper clutched in his hand.

Dustin settled into the corner and sat down, musing over different chord patterns in his head, ignoring the sound of footsteps when he heard them coming and going from the various doors along the hallway, and not one of them disturbed him until much later, and not long before the opening ceremony was due to start.

It was a female voice that roused Dustin from his reverie of guitar notes; a polite Al Bhed voice that had a peculiar ring to it that he had never heard before.

"Aqlica sa," it said pleasantly, "pid e ys muugehk vun cusauha-"

She was still speaking when he opened his eyes to get a good look at her, and he was expecting a blonde Al Bhed with green eyes and the Psyches regalia. Instead, what he saw made him jump to his feet and stare; she was clearly _not_ an Al Bhed.

The girl had hair the colour of chocolate, bound up in Zandal style braids and feathers with yellow and white beads; she wore a yellow shirt with a nautilus shell on the front, with black trousers that had one leg longer then the other by several inches. Her face had black letters that clearly spelled out 'AUROCHS' painted onto her forehead, and someone had drawn a stylised shell onto her left cheek, with swirling patterns around her eyes that drew attention to the intense blue colour of her irises.

Before she even had a chance to finish what she was saying, he blurted out in Spiran, "_You're_ not Al Bhed!"

She stopped in her tracks, staring at him in surprise, and he suddenly realised what he had said and how incredibly rude it had sounded.

Dustin flailed helplessly to repair the damage he had wrought. And yet…he couldn't shake the thought that she _was_ an Al Bhed; there was something about her that felt so familiar, the way he felt when he was with other Al Bhed – something like kin. But she so clearly _wasn't_ an Al Bhed!

Eventually, after she got over the shock of his rude welcome, she said, "My grandmother was an Al Bhed." Also in Spiran.

"Oh." Was all Dustin could think of to say.

"Err…" she looked down at her feet, then at the wall before meeting his gaze again. "Listen, I'm looking for my brother, I dunno where he is and someone said they'd seen him round here,"

"Uhuh," Dustin felt his heart beating uncharacteristically fast, and couldn't find the cause except the fact that he was most probably a moron.

"He's about yey big," she held up a hand to show his height. "Wearing yellow, dark hair and shutter shades. Probably hurling abuse at other blitz supporters…seen anything like that?"

Dustin shook his head mutely.

"Okay, sorry to disturb you," she smiled, bowing her head politely before turning to leave.

A young mean came running into the hallway with flaming red hair and a thick accent who looked vaguely familiar. "I found him!" he boomed angrily, grabbing the girl by the arm. "He was over by the concession stand flirting with Andi."

"What?" she practically shouted, visibly shaking with rage. "I'm gonna kill that little-!" she was already out of the door before Dustin could hear the rest of it, followed by the young man.

Sighing heavily, Dustin picked himself up and left the stadium compound altogether. He found a nice, almost empty café in one of the side streets with a tiny sphere screen that would tell him who had won which games and if his uncle would be in a good mood later today.

The man behind the counter seemed quite nice, and after the first half hour of watching the opening ceremonies, he managed to strike up a conversation with Dustin. He didn't let anything on, and kept his answers to the ambiguous questions short; it didn't matter since the man was quite talkative, and seemed to enjoy having someone to listen to him.

"Well now, _there's_ a sight to see," he said as the last stages of the opening began.

"What?" Dustin looked up over his tea to watch as a group of people walked across the Maester's podium with burning brands in their hands. He recognised his uncle among the people there.

"All the leaders together," the man pointed at the screen, and leant over the counter to talk to Dustin without raising his voice. "See there? Tromel Guado, Garik Ronso, Narla à Omnitara-Pilanel, and the heads of New Yevon, the Youth League, and the Al Bhed."

Dustin nodded, already recognising Gippal and Cid by blood and marriage, and Nooj and Baralai by reputation.

"And!" the man said with s wide smile, pointing at the woman standing beside Cid, wearing a modest and formal looking dress in mottled blue and white. "High Summoner Yuna! Lady Yuna doesn't make many public appearances these days. Heard it was difficult to get hold of her for this. Of course," he said, standing up straight to refill the boiling urn with water. "Her husband is a blitzer himself, so she must have agreed to it on those grounds."

"Hmm," Dustin sipped his tea, watching at the congregated leaders of Spira lit the oil in the bowl before the Maester's old seat, to tumultuous cheers from the crowd.

"I mean," he went on, seeming to miss Dustin's lack of enthusiasm. "I understand that she must want a normal life and all, but…come on! Daughter of a High Summoner, a High Summoner herself…bringer of the Eternal Calm no less! What did she expect when she set out to defeat Sin?"

Dustin thought dryly that Lady Yuna probably hadn't factored in whatever it was that had finished Sin off for good when she set out on her Pilgrimage. Personally, he wasn't sure he saw what there was that was worth making such a fuss over; it wasn't like Lady Yuna actively ran anything in Spira these days…she was more like a figurehead, and he was certain that under the guise of the ethereal and mystical saviour of Spira, she was just like every other normal person.

Watching the screen, Dustin saw that the tournament had officially begun, and the sphere pool was being filled. The camera swung to the side, and the captains of the blitz teams were stood in a line below the main dais; some of them were punching the air in celebration, others were clapping and whooping loudly, while one man was jumping up and down in delight.

"So! How are you rooting for?"

The question caught Dustin off guard. "No one." He answered honestly. "I'm here with family, they're all in the stadium."

"Ah, not a fan of crowds then?"

Dustin shook his head.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like. Usually nice and quiet round here when the games are on, but it'll be like all hell's broke loose tonight."

From his turn of phrase, Dustin guessed this man was of Zandal decent. True, when he rolled his sleeves up a while later to start making bread, he saw a beautiful ivy creeper in exquisite detail trailing down his upper arm, with a lizard of some sort hidden in-between the vines, in stylised greens and reds in traditional style.

It must have twigged with the man that Dustin was Al Bhed too, but he made no comment, and ventured no information on his own heritage, so they both left it at that.

By the time Dustin got up to leave, the first round had been finished, and those going through to the next round were the Goers, Aurochs, Fangs, Heralds, and oddly enough the Zandal team had made it through too, although they would most certainly be thrashed by the Djose Storms tomorrow. There were a couple of other teams that Dustin had missed the names of, but he wasn't overly interested.

Thinking that he would come back tomorrow to escape the mayhem of the stadium and the glares of the cleaning maid, Dustin gave the man a generous tip and made his way back to the hotel before the others returned. But, as he had predicted earlier, it was a long time before his cousins and their friends arrived back late at night, and Tarak simply fell into his bed without a word and fell asleep, not bothering to rub the face paint from his face.

Feeling slightly superior, Dustin rolled over and settled down to sleep, hoping his dreams would be free of his usual nightmares.

XOXOX

Bayla was having the time of her life – long lost friends to hang out with, blitz to watch, and her father to yell and scream at all day long. It was absolutely perfect!

The first game the Aurochs played they thrashed the Psyches 5-1, and while Gippal tried to remain non-committal, it was evident he wasn't very happy. Wakka on the other hand was over the moon, and that night the balcony was full of the sounds of herself, her father, Vidina and Wakka singing a victory song of their own compilation while Deka played the drums on upturned bowls and Zuo hurled abuse at Tarak.

As the days went by with the Auroch's sliding their way towards the top rank, the nights passed with songs and dances and extremely good food. On the second night Bayla stole the hotel's guitar again and started teaching Yasmine some simple chords. Before long she was joining in the drinking songs, to which Elodie and Tidus were the undisputed champions at singing.

After four days of non-stop blitz mania, the final game loomed over their heads, and Tidus and Wakka had gone to bed early to prepare for it. Meanwhile, everyone else was still up and about, having finished celebrating early since there were fewer games played that day that needed attending.

As Bayla was belting out a popular song among her classmates at home, Elodie wondered up behind and tapped her on the shoulder.

"And I will always-! Hey, wassup?" she let the guitar down, turning to see what her aunt wanted.

"Fancy a game?" she said casually, holding a set of playing cards in her right hand. For the duration of the tournament El had redone her braids so that the hair on the left side of her head had neat cornrows that resembled the Aurochs shell like logo, and every bead was either black or yellow with a myriad of feathers woven into the festival plaits that hung over her left shoulder. It looked epic in every sense of the word.

"Alright," Bayla handed the guitar over to Paco, who started playing the simple nursery rhymes he knew the tune to, and followed Elodie inside.

There was a set of comfortable sofas and armchairs in one corner where most of the adults were sitting, although a few standing by the bar, and Rikku was bouncing around the dance floor with Sicel in her arms, cooing to her son in Al Bhed and laughing at the goofy little grin on his face at his mother's antics.

They settled on the sofa that had the least people sitting on it that was adjacent to another one to form a lopsided 'L' shape. Bayla's mother was sat at one end, and she smiled at the in greeting when they sat down before turning back to listen to Paine's story about a banker who had pitched up uninvited at the palace, and who she had ripped to shreds because of his lack of manners.

"Here," Elodie shuffled the cards before dealing out thirteen each and placing the rest of the cards face down between them on a cushion.

It was a Zandal game with completely different rules to any other type of card game; the aim was to make as many sets as possible with the cards in your hand before laying them out separately – the first person to get rid of their hand had to have more independent sets than the other player, otherwise they lost. It was very tricky to play, and only Tidus had ever been good at it, even though Elodie was still the master and wiped the floor with him. There were also more than fifty-two cards, which made the games long and eventful because they weren't set out like normal cards with hearts and clubs; they had animals and plants, and the lunar spirits along with a few other Zandal Demi-Gods.

Even if it was difficult, Bayla enjoyed playing with El, and in between swearing matches, they got along pretty well with it.

After an exhaustive hour of playing, Bayla felt a swoop in her stomach like she did when she was playing blitz and realised that she had a clear shot at the goal. She could make two sets of four, three sets of two, and she had each lunar spirit in her hand – _as well_ as seven herbs to make yet another set.

Checking Elodie's hand and determining that she didn't have as many cards as her, or the capacity to hold more sets than her, Bayla called her game and laid her cards out on the sofa before El for inspection, taking care to order the cards in their sets as they were placed down.

Elodie had clearly lost badly this time round, for the first time in Bayla's memory, but instead of congratulating her, or at least telling her she wasn't speaking to her for a week, El looked down at them thoughtfully and began pointing to individual cards and murmuring to herself in Stroma.

"Erm…" Bayla blinked. "El? What are you doing?"

"Thinking deep and significant thoughts," she responded, tapping the top card in the lunar calendar set. "Do you know which Spirit this is?"

Bayla had a closer look, and saw the soaring eagle made out of geometric shapes with its beak held wide open, holding the orb of the sun up for the world – an old bed time story that had been her favourite when she was very little.

"Yeah, it's Yahweh. The Spirit of the Shaman. Independent of worldly elements and transcends both this reality and the Farplane, and gives life to the lost ones." Bayla spewed the well-known waffle of Zandal yore. "So?"

"And here," Elodie motioned towards the top cards in the sets of four.

"That's the Yew tree," Bayla said. "And that one's the Water Dragon."

"And what about these?" she motioned to the sets of two.

Bayla frowned, but recounted, "That's the festival flute, and that one is the cup of life that's supposedly hewn from the stone of Gagazet." What did this have to do with anything? "And that one's the spring morning star."

"And that one?" Elodie tapped the herb set as well.

"It's a…" Bayla had to stop and think about it for a moment. "I dunno. It's a healing plant of some sort."

"Close," El smiled at her. "It's called Summoner's Wort. Zandal summoner's would take this as a tea to strengthen the mind and calm the soul before praying to the fayth."

Bayla nodded; there had been very few Zandal Summoners through out the ages, but there were many Zandal Guardians.

"What does this have to do, with like, _anything_?"

"So glad you asked," Elodie said, putting her hand in her pocket and pulling out a set of rune stones used in divination. On closer inspection, they turned out to be the knucklebones of a Drake. "Here, hold these. Now repeat after me and then throw them onto the sofa," she patted the space beside her card sets.

Bayla raised an eyebrow, but went along with it. She chanted the old mantra of the dead Language of The Druids (the '_Laabelia a Druuid_') after Elodie, and chucked the bones onto the sofa.

El's reaction made both Bayla and her mother jump. She fairly leapt after the three runes that escaped onto the floor, and carefully inspected them, paying close attention to details such as how they lay in relation to the others, and how one was propped up upon another, and how close the runes on these two bones were.

"What in the name of _Yevon_ are you doing?" Bayla demanded, frustrated by Elodie's silence.

She sat back up so suddenly Bayla jumped again. "Ever thought of becoming a medicine woman?" she asked.

"What?" Bayla spluttered. "I haven't got the right training or anything! I didn't grow up with a caravan in Calm Lands. I grew up on a backwater island where most Zandal's _don't go_. What the hell?"

"I know you're good at biology," Elodie explained. "And people too. See these runes?" she showed Bayla before sweeping them up and putting them back into the pouch in her pocket. "The Runes tell me you would be adept at Shamanism. And your cards? See for yourself," and again, she showed Bayla, whose mouth was now hanging open. "You put Yahweh on the top – the Spirit of the Shaman. You chose the Yew tree over the Elder, and your current totem the water dragon, which suggests a time of change is coming. Yew is the most sacred tree to our people, but because the Elder is beneath it, it shows that you have an awareness of the transition between worlds."

Bayla could only gape at her.

"And here's the festival flute, as you said. That show's your creative and musical side. And the cup of life – I'm sure you know what _that _denotes, apart from a good eye for measurement. And the Morning Star of Spring? That's the symbol of new life, which also signifies an open soul ready to grow outward and upward. And lastly," she held up the final card in her left hand while taking Bayla's with her right. "Summoner's Wort. It's the symbol used for Medicine Woman. A Medicine Man has Vervain as his mark."

Bayla couldn't fully comprehend the impact of what Elodie was telling her.

"I can't usually shut you up," El said playfully. "What's happened here?"

Bayla snapped her jaw shut and rubbed her eyes furiously for a moment in an attempt to wake her brain up.

"I was talking to you dad the other night, just after I arrived in Besaid." Elodie told her. "Seemed a bit concerned about your future, and we seemed to arrive at the idea of medicine woman for you. I said I'd do my little test, and I'm happy to say that you would be more than adequate for the job."

"Huh," Bayla breathed, unsure what to make of the prospect.

"You don't have to," El reassured her. "Just an idea. I could hook you up with one of the Stroma's Shaman if you wanted to, and check in every so often on your progress. We thought you might like to give the idea a go, but we wanted to make sure you would be suitable."

"Wait a sec," Bayla managed to find her voice again. "You didn't just do the hierarchy test on me did you?" she didn't know whether to be alarmed, angry or flattered.

"Kinda," El pulled a face. "It's a variant…you'd have to have it done by the Prima Shaman if you wanted to become a adult within the tribe, but it's the same principle. It just shows what your strengths are, and they often correspond with a suitable vocation."

"What else is there I could do, beside medicine?" Bayla asked cautiously.

Elodie took the runes out of her pocket and looked at the closely, then at the cards, looking at the other ones she had placed further down the sets, and how they differed from each set. Apparently there was a lot more going on in those bones than Bayla could see.

"A warrior? Though you would probably end up as a field medic. Musician…? I dunno, I don't think you have the patience for it. _I_ never did anyway…"

Bayla frowned. Elodie was a Higher Shaman, as opposed to just a Shaman because she had become a Guardian, and she had an extensive knowledge of the so-called travelling medicines. But, as she would tell anyone who was interested and would listen, El was not considered a Medicine Woman because she didn't work with long-term patients and she was always on the move. As she freely admitted, Elodie's main weakness was a lack of patience with certain things, though on the flip side she was stubborn and if she felt the need to she would see a project through to the end. That was what made her such a good researcher and invaluable to Gippal's programme.

As she mused over these things, Bayla suddenly realised something, and then rounded on El in a fit of rage.

"Wait a sec, you _lost on purpose to me?_"

"Well, how else was I going to do the test?" Elodie said, unconcernedly as she packed the cards away.

Bayla was livid; she had thought that for the first time in her life she was besting Elodie at something – and only to find that it had been a deliberate ploy?

"Argh!" she threw her hands up into the air and stalked out of the room. "I hate you!"

"Oh, and I'm so hard done by," El said conversationally.

Bayla paused long enough to look back, and find both she and her mother in stitches over the situation. Scowling, Bayla stalked upstairs to her bed and buried herself beneath the covers. If she was being honest with herself, it was mildly flattering that El had taken the trouble to do that for her. But, as she reminded herself stubbornly – her pride had been wounded, and she was going to sulk over the issue until El said sorry.

It wasn't a long wait for it either; the next morning everyone was up early to grab seats in the stadium, and Elodie cornered her by the tea table at breakfast.

"Now, I know that face," she began.

Bayla scowled at her.

Undeterred, Elodie went on, "Sorry about last night. But you know I did it with your best interests at heart, not just to piss you off. Okay?"

Unwilling to admit defeat, Bayla glared at El for a moment before deflating.

"Come on, it's the final today!" she slapped her on the back. "Your dad won't be happy if he sees you with a face like thunder. Cheer up, if not to make me feel better, than to cheer him on?"

Bayla gave her a steady look, before raising her hand to entwine their thumbs. "For my dad." She said firmly. Then she smiled as Elodie interlinked their fingers and grinned.

"Of course," then she let go and clapped her hands together. "Come on! We have to get ready to scream ourselves stupid at the Goers. I've got some tea leaves for sore throats upstairs, I suggest you take some now."

XOXOX

It was moments like this that made Tidus glad he was alive – as corny as that sounded.

Right now, he was back at the hotel surrounded by his friends and family, celebrating the end of the tournament, and a nail biting victory for the Aurochs. Memories from earlier in the day kept crowding his vision; the shot he had made that had brought their score one point above the Goers, and the spectacular save their goalie had made just before the whistle went, stopping the Goers from making it a tie and rubbing salt into their wounded pride. And then there was the immediate aftermath, where he and their Goalie (a newbie called Jason) had disappeared under a pile of people hugging them; some of Tidus' old students gatecrashed their way into the locker room to congratulate them, until Vidina had swept them out of the way and Tidus had been attacked by his three children, screaming their approval and bouncing with so much energy he felt tired just looking at them.

However, he and Wakka had eventually made it back to the hotel, where the kids were already planning a huge celebratory party with Rikku's help. The best part of wining was Yuna's smile when she had finally managed to prise Deka from Tidus' arm and kiss him; that one small gesture of affection meant more to him the cup they had been presented with.

So now Tidus was bouncing around the dance floor with Rikku and Yuna, and too many others to count. He was sure the hotel staff must have been sick of them by now, but they had promised tonight would be the last night they held fort in the main communal area. Although, Andi had been planning a spree of night clubs to which Leblanc had put her foot down, and Tidus knew that she, Bayla and Kai were going to sneak themselves and the others out somehow tomorrow night, so he had carefully turned a blind eye and a deaf ear when he had over heard their plans earlier.

Besides, why not enjoy the moment? Fayth knew when he'd get to see Rikku and the others again! Even if their friendship was cemented more firmly than reinforced concrete, such long distances and patchy com links was wearing on any sort of relationship. Plus, Rikku had let him hijack little Sicel, and Tidus took great pleasure in knowing that the little eighteen-month-old infant had taken to him so quickly.

In the end Rikku had to take him because he was hungry and wouldn't be dissuaded from his tantrum of hunger to stop for anything – including food. He couldn't help but grin when he remember Bayla used to do the same to him; managed to work herself up so much she forgot what she had been crying about in the first place.

When the music stopped so the DJ could find some new music, everyone grabbed a drink and stood around talking for a bit. Tidus watched out of the corner of his eye as Elodie slid her way from the bar to a table on one side of the room. She had a tankard in one hand, and a large silver spoon in the other, so Tidus took Yuna's hands and placed them over her ears before doing the same to his own. El climbed onto a chair so that she was aloft of the congregation and raised her hands

Everyone around them winced as the sonorous noise clanged loudly in their eardrums – all except El who looked rather bored by the sound. But it had the desired effect; everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and look at her.

Elodie put the tankard and spoon down and picked up her beer bottle before straightening up again and clearing her throat.

"I'd like to make a small speech, if I may." She began, and a couple of people (most probably the youngsters) groaned.

Tidus grinned, because El's speeches were often funny, and very deep and meaningful, and she had a light in her eyes that suggested some form of humour.

"If you don't like it you know where the door is," she said offhandedly. "Anyway, I think that we should give a round of applause to the people who have taken the time to organise this event, because in my opinion they've completely out done themselves,"

Tidus winced as Bayla and Vidina jumped onto one of the tables nearby and started cat calling loudly in approval. He caught sight of Yasmine shaking her head, but laughing all the same.

"And to the winners of the tournament itself – bloody good job on that goal, if I do say so myself!"

Tidus looked over his shoulder, and gave Wakka a high five amid more cheers.

"Yeah, yeah. You're all awesome incarnate," Elodie said, hamming up her annoyance, although the effect was spoiled somewhat by her grin. "Oi, shut up Ti!" she yelled at him when he started heckling her. "I'm making a speech here!"

"Get on with it!" Gippal shouted, sounding as though he had had one too many drinks that evening.

"I will if you shut the hell up!" silence followed. "Okay, people! I just wanted to bring the celebrations back round to why we're all here. We've had a dedicated network of people from our three major groups working together in harmony and success for the last two decades. And we've also been free of Sin's tyranny for fast approaching twenty-three years, this coming winter." Here she gave a pause that allowed the weight of her words to impress themselves upon everyone. "You gotta admit, that's a fairly impressive streak. And I think in light of that, we should have a toast," she raised her beer bottle. "Nothing elegant, just find something to raise, it's the thought that counts!"

They all laughed, and the younger kids all grabbed a glass each since most of the adults were nursing some sort of drink already. Tidus took the bottle Wakka offered him, and Rikku came rushing back into the room with a now sleepy Sicel, somehow managing to carry two wine glasses at the same time. She handed one to Yuna, and settled in on Wakka's other side to listen.

"There are people here in this room, who despite all the odds are still with us today," Elodie said, the light tone from her earlier teasing gone now. "And there are people who should be here with us but aren't. They all sacrificed so much to get us to where we are today, and I don't know about you, but I think that deserves some sort of recognition." She raised her right hand and placed her middle and forefinger between her eyebrows, thumb resting on her cheek. Then she held the arm out and made a sign of blessing to the congregation before lifting the bottle high above her head. "To the Fallen and the Standing!" she crowed in Spiran, as opposed to her native Stroma.

"The Fallen and the Standing!" they shouted back, and drank to their memory.

"I have said my piece, this podium is now free." Elodie jumped down to the floor and walked away, to which Gippal roared his approval. Shaking her fist at him she called over the noise of laughter and rekindled conversation, "If you weren't my boss I'd…!"

Then the music started up again and her voice was lost in the sounds of the teenagers invading the dance floor. Tidus let Yuna drag him away once Vidina and Tarak initiated a dance off and everyone was yelling and screaming for their dancer, which ended in Bayla and Kai having to be separated forcibly before they did serious harm to each other in a fit of high spirits.

Gippal gave Tidus a meaningful look and laughed at his reaction. Turning to his wife in despair, he asked, "You sure she's mine?"

"Not a shadow of a doubt," she said with a smile.

Elodie chose that exact same moment to descend upon them with a grin. "You don't mind if I borrow him for a moment? Sibling stuff,"

Yuna smiled at them, kissed Tidus on the cheek and let Rikku drag her away.

"Wassup?" Tidus asked as they slid out onto the balcony. "Nice speech, by the way,"

"Meh," El waved it away. "Thought the kids needed to hear something mildly sensible before they got too carried away with blitz."

There was a loud thud from inside, and Vidina ran onto the balcony, vaulted over the railings onto the walkway below, and ran away cackling to himself. Bayla wasn't far behind, swearing in Al Bhed after him.

"Of course, beating them with a stick may have got the message across more effectively."

Tidus laughed. "So you dragged me out here for what, exactly? Except to embarrass me by my children's behaviour…"

Elodie took a set of cards from her pocket, crouched down and laid them out carefully on the decking in front of her. Tidus knelt down too and studied them closely, guessing what they were for.

"Bayla did this?"

"Yup. See here?" she started pointing out the cards beneath the top ones, and linking them together in a way only a Shaman could make sense of them. "So, I'm thinking…" she went on after a pregnant pause. "A definite yes to medicine woman. _Possible_ yes for Shaman if she wanted to go for it but I don't recommend it myself."

"On what grounds?" he asked.

"I just don't think she'll be able to sit it out. Bay's gonna get bored and go off to do her own thing. I get the feeling she's gonna want to work from a base somewhere and help people in the long term, not constantly be on the move like me. I can see that wearing her down very quickly."

Tidus nodded; that was a very fair evaluation.

"So, any suggestions?"

"Well, talking to Rikku," still crouched on the decking, Elodie nodded back inside. "A couple of other Zandal are going to be working at New Home for the foreseeable future, and one of them is actually Shulay,"

This piqued Tidus' interest further; this was the woman who had trained Elodie, and conducted his own initiation ceremony.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's teaching the medics how to do their job when they haven't got any equipment." El snorted with laughter. "This is gonna be entertaining and _hilarious_,"

"So she'd be willing to do that, then?" he hedged.

"Well, I haven't actually asked yet, but I owe her after training _me_ up, and in the true spirit of my people I will reward her by offloading another lost soul onto her back."

"I _hate_ it when you guys do that,"

They both looked up to find Rikku standing in the doorway, silhouetted against the light, holding a sleeping Sicel in her arms.

"I barely understand a word you say," she went on, walking over to them and gracefully falling to sit cross-legged, Sicel cradled against her chest, still sound asleep.

Elodie blinked, and Tidus laughed; he had barely noticed they had slipped into the Stroma dialect, as they often did when they were talking. He prided himself on his ability to speak several major Zandal languages, as well as Al Bhed. Although, if others around him couldn't speak them it got a bit confusing since he and El often conversed in her native tongue.

"All I caught was Bayla and New Home. What are you scheming up?"

"Well," Elodie began in Al Bhed, and Tidus felt his mind shift towards that particular language with ease. "I was thinking that if my teacher is going to be working there, and that she would make a good medicine woman, that maybe you would mind taking care of her for us?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you," Rikku shifted Sicel into a more comfortable position in her arms before handing him over to Tidus. "We're running an art course this year for the youngsters. I wondered whether Bayla would like to take part? Since she has no idea what she wants to do."

Tidus tried not to laugh too loudly as he gently rocked the baby in his arms. "That girl never does."

"She is not happy with me after I tricked her into doing the test. Probably because I had to lose on purpose and that seriously wounded her pride,"

Tidus couldn't stop the snort of laughter that nearly woke Sicel up, but he started swaying in time to the more mellow music floating out onto the balcony, and he snuffled quietly back to sleep.

"If you want, we can hang to Bayla for a bit." Rikku went on. "I was meaning to ask you before now, but it's been so hectic!"

"I'll drink to that," Elodie said, taking a swig from the bottle that made magically appeared in her hand. She wiped the mouth with the hem of her shirt and offered it to Tidus.

"Seriously," he said in Spiran, excepting the offer. "Where do you _keep_ everything? I expect you could keep the entire tenting kit in your bra, the way you carry on."

Elodie shrugged dramatically with a bored expression, before sniggering. "That would make a great picture. You, baby, bottle'o'beer…"

"Well, now that you mention it…" Rikku smirked, whipping a small sphere camera out of nowhere.

"What is it with woman and hiding objects?" Tidus complained, but humoured Rikku by posing, and pretending to feed Sicel from the bottle.

"_That's_ one for the baby book!" she said happily, skimming through the photos on the little screen as they both craned over to look.

"Don't let Gippal catch you, he'll have massive hissy fit over it," Elodie sniggered.

"Aww, you're so great with kids, you know!" Rikku cooed, smiling at Sicel. "I remember the first time I saw you with Bayla,"

"I basically shat myself when she started crying," El pulled a face. "And I thought I was experienced enough to handle the situation!"

Tidus laughed, remembering as well. It had been the easiest and most natural thing in the world to pick his daughter up when she was not even an hour old, after the nine months of terror waiting for the single moment. Elodie had all but thrown Bayla back into Yuna's arms in a panic, not knowing what else to do; and thus did her medic training fail her most spectacularly!

"She was only hungry," Tidus reminded El, smirking at her scowl. "Or maybe she just didn't like you. We'll never know!"

"You know," Elodie leant back and struck a lackadaisical pose and giving him a sidelong glance. "I would punch you – but of course, you're not a legitimate target, what with the baby and all…"

"El!" Gippal yelled from the doorway. "Get in here! We need to plan the next research party to the jungle and Baralai wants your opinion!"

"Me?" Elodie feigned shock. "_My_ opinion? Bloody hell! I'm _extremely_ popular today,"

"Because you're so awesome," Tidus teased.

"I will punch you again," she said menacingly, getting to her feet and flouncing away. "When you least expect it!"

Tidus and Rikku laughed before heaving themselves to their feet. Rikku turned round and leant against the railings, looking out across the water or the outer harbour.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tidus queried, finding himself rocking to a familiar rhythm with Sicel in his arms. When was the last time he'd done this? It must have been _years_ and yet it felt like only yesterday…

A lump rose in his throat when he thought of Bayla, all but grown up now and soon to leave home for good.

"Just wondering…I haven't spoken to Bayla yet, because I wanted to talk to you guys first. Yunie thinks it's a good idea, but I wanted to run it by you first before I approach her."

"Sounds good," he said, trying to sound off hand.

"Aww!" Rikku flung her arms around his neck. "It'll be okay! We'll look after her, I promise!"

One thing Tidus _hated_ about Rikku was that she – like Yuna – had a way of seeing past his nonchalance and straight to the heart of the matter. It was intensely annoying at times.

"It's alright for _you_," he shot back when she let go. "You've got your kids all in the same place, and the base is big enough for them to get own with their own lives with out so they're never to far away. How do you think I feel?"

"But she won't _be_ alone!" Rikku countered. "We're family! You're my actual wonderful big brother who just lives hundreds of miles away, and Bayla's like the little niece I never get to see! C'mon," she patted his shoulder. "If you're gonna let her go, let her go somewhere where you _know_ she's got friends and family. Look, Vidina'll be there too, and she knows Tarak and the others. It'll be good for her, and I can keep you updated on how she's doing and everything."

It was a lovely rose tinted picture Rikku was painting. Tidus couldn't help but feel suspicious. He looked down at the woman he had come to call his sister; Rikku was still petite compared to the rest of them, and despite having had seven kids she was still quite slender for her age. Only, her face looked a bit gaunt in the dim light; considering what Tidus had managed to glean from exchanged conversation, he knew something had happened to a relative of Gippal's, which would explain the harassed look on her face.

What was she up to…?

"And there's no other motive?" he asked in a monotone.

"Heheh," Rikku said nervously, scratching her cheek absently, and Tidus knew he had her. "Well…I'm trying to get more nice people I know and trust to do the art course. You may have heard about Gippal's sister…"

"Oh," _that_ close of a relation? No wonder Gippal had got himself purposefully drunk several times already.

"Yeah. We're looking after his nephew at the moment. I've bullied him into doing the course, but he's still mopping. I was wondering if he sees more happy people around him while he's at it, he might perk up a bit…"

Following her logic had never been that easy, but at least Tidus could understand where she was coming from this time.

"I guess…dunno how much help she'll be though. She'll either go berserk at all the freedom or beg you to take her home again. She's a tricky one alright…"

"I remember," Rikku said suddenly, taking him by surprise. "_You_ were pretty freaked out when you came to Spira. Not a clue about _anything_. Then," she grinned up at him, "see you back on the Moon Flow – completely different person! Like a duck to water, that's what you are," she nodded at Sicel, still fast asleep in his arms. "And Bayla's so like you! I can see her being uneasy at first, but she'll settle into it soon enough. And having Vidina and El around for a bit will help with that."

"I just hope you know what you're doing…" Tidus sighed, admitting defeat. "She'll always be my little girl, no matter what happens."

Rikku touched his arm briefly with her knuckles, too wary of waking her child to want to punch him _too_ hard. "There you go! See? Not so hard, is it?"

"The furthest she's ever gone without us is to Kilika for the day with her friends from school. Pushing off to Bikanel is a bit different," he insisted.

"Hey, she's family," Rikku said sternly, wagging a finger at him like his mother used to do, making Tidus laugh. "I look out for my own. Besides! She's technically Zandal, right? We've got tonnes of them round the base! They'll look out for her too, mark my words."

"You're making me sound like a bad guy," Tidus grumbled. "I already surrendered. Want me to make a white flag to go with it?"

Rikku giggled. "Naw, never mind. I just wanted you to admit it out loud."

"I really hate you sometimes," he said in a resigned voice.

"That's what little sister's are for!" Rikku hugged him again. "Come on, let's get another drink and go find Bayla. I know they're gonna sneak off tomorrow night, so we'd better catch her now…"

Allowing himself to be pulled back inside, Tidus meekly followed his almost-cousin until Gippal fronted up to him and held out his arms, eyes blazing.

"Gimme my baby back!" he snapped. "You got three of your own,"

Just at that moment, Deka walked by with a spring in her step, humming the tune to a song that wasn't the one being played. It sounded suspiciously like _A Thousand Words_. Tidus handed Sicel back, grabbed Deka round the waist and lifted her into his arms, ignoring her squeals of protest.

"See? Just isn't the same," he told Gippal with all seriousness.

Rikku laughed loudly, and Deka squirmed around shrieking, "Put me down put me down put me down put me down _put me down_!"

Tidus pretended to drop her, catching her at the last moment before letting her down on the floor.

"Hey!" she tried to take a swing at him but over balanced and nearly toppled over. "Ya big meanie!" she seemed a bit red in the face.

"Have you been drinking?" Tidus asked matter-of-factly.

Deka never even tried to lie, she was so bad at it; something that both he and Yuna were known for. "Uncle Wakka let me try some of his, and so did Vidina and Tarak. I feel kinda funny…"

Tidus excused them both from Gippal and Rikku's presence and went to the bar. He made Deka sit and drink to large glasses of water before grabbing Kai and asking her to take Deka somewhere quiet and sit with her until Bayla got back. When he eventually found his errant offspring, Rikku leapt on her first and told her about the course opportunity.

It made Tidus intensely proud of his daughter when she politely detached herself from her aunt, saying, "Yeah, I'll think about it. Listen, Aunt Rikku – my little sister's not well and I need to look after her. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow, alright?" and ran to take over from Kai. Lifting the smaller girl up over her shoulder, Bayla made her way to the stairs, waving goodbye to everyone she passed and disappeared out of sight.

Someone smacked Tidus round the back of the head in greeting, and he turned to see Elodie tailed by Wakka behind him. She took a big swig from her bottle, and nodded at the empty doorway where Bayla had been moments before.

"Heart of gold, that girl." She said sincerely, not a trace of teasing in her face or tone. "Naïve and inexperienced, maybe. But a heart of pure gold."

"Don't know where she gets it from," Tidus teased.

"Don't let Yuna catch you sayin' that, ya?"

"We love you," Elodie insisted, giving him a one armed hug. "You're annoying and whiny and a _pain_ in the arse at times, but we wouldn't be too happy without you."

"Does this mean I have a heart of gold too?" he simpered.

"Nah," Elodie said with a straight face. "Not quite, you're still on bronze."

Tidus aimed a playful punch at her, and the three of them fell about laughing. Years of friendship and suffering together had made bonds between them that were unbreakable. He couldn't think of any better people to call his kin; this was certainly the place where he belonged.

At that moment, surrounded by his friends and family, celebrating the bonds of friendship that had held Spira together for so long, it felt so good to be alive then and there.

XOXOX


	6. Planning Ahead

**AN: the next chapter may take a bit longer to write because I need to think of some ingenious way of introducing the main villain and to be honest I have a face and a voice and a grand master plan and EVERYTHING for this evil git but I still haven't thought of a name xD if you have any suggestions I'm all ears (cause I'm clearly no brains at this moment in time…) ;)**

**Anyways, do enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think :)**

_**Planning Ahead**_

It must have been about lunchtime when Yasmine finally found Bayla the day after the final match. She was sitting on a brick wall just on the outskirts of the hotel gardens, munching on an apple and watching the sea.

No longer afraid of rejection, Yasmine settled down beside her, rearranging her skirt neatly as she sat down. Bayla turned and gave her a smile before looking back out to sea.

"Hard to imagine the havoc we cause last night," she said vaguely.

Yasmine smiled. "I don't think Vidina's talking to you…"

"He'll get over it. I mean," she took a huge bite of her apple and spoke through a mouthful of food, "Ee' brok' my ribs once as a _joke_." She swallowed forcibly. "And I still lived. He'll get over it…"

Yasmine thought of the black eye Vidina now sported, but made no comment.

"Everything all right?" Bayla asked in a vague tone.

"Well, about tonight…" Yasmine was getting nervous about 'clubbing'. Andi wouldn't let up about it.

"Oh, _that_." Bayla laughed. "Listen, just stick close to us and no one will give you any trouble. Remember those reporters Vidina cut down by _looking_ at them?" she grinned. "Imagine what it would be like to a guy who thought he was gonna have easy pickings? Even if they were stupid enough to try their luck Vid would _thrash _them."

The threat of violence didn't do much to cheer Yasmine up.

"It's not just that, its…just…" she didn't know how to say it out loud, and it was just too embarrassing to even _think_ about it! How was she ever going to admit it to Bayla? Andi had said so herself that this girl was a party animal…

"Don't leave me hanging! The suspense if killing me," Bayla laughed.

Yasmine smiled, but it soon faded. Bayla gave her a searching look, one that Yasmine now remembered very well, and swung her legs up and round so that she sat cross-legged facing her.

"Spill it. I know that look – something's bugging you, and so help me I'm gonna find out what!" she poked Yasmine in the ribs, earning a genuine laugh.

"Cut it out!" she swatted Bayla playfully. "I forgot what such a _pain_ you can be!"

"That's me!" Bayla grinned, jabbing herself in the chest with her thumb. "Pity my dad didn't give me _Puukl_ as my middle name – it's _Suuh Mearad_…"

"Really?" Yasmine asked, momentarily distracted.

"Mmhmm," Bayla nodded, taking another chunk of apple. "It means _calm in the storm_. It's sort of a tradition for adopted Zandals to give their children a Zandal name. My parents wanted me to have an Al Bhed name, so dad gave me a Zandal middle name. Went with my use name or something…" she picked at the faded hem of her knee length shorts. "My dad's weird."

Yasmine stifled a laugh.

"Anyway! What's eating you up?" Bayla pressed, and Yasmine's face fell.

"Err," Fayth! Why hadn't she just kept her mouth shut and feigned illness for tonight?

Seeing no way out of it, since she seemed to recall Bayla as being _very_ persuasive when she wanted to be, Yasmine resigned herself to abject humiliation.

She hung her head, trying to get what little of her short hair she could to hide her face. "Well, I'm worried about going out tonight…"

"I gathered that already. You've been dancing round it all conversation long." Bayla said bluntly.

"I'm not happy with the idea of going out and…well…" Yasmine raised her hands to hide her face.

"Spit it out!" Bayla sounded worried. "You're making _me_ feel edgy!"

"I…I don't like the idea of going out and kissing boys!" she said in a rush, lowering her hands just long enough to get the words out before hiding her face again.

There, she had said it.

The blank silence didn't make her feel any better, either.

"Is this supposed to be a problem?"

Yasmine looked up at Bayla in amazement, who wore a blank look.

"Well, it is! …Isn't it?" she asked, suddenly not sure any more.

Suddenly, the ball dropped and Bayla laughed so hard she nearly fell off the wall. Tears pricked Yasmine's eyes and she stood up, intending to run away, but Bayla reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Get back here, you!" she giggled. "_Honestly_! You should know better than to listen to Andi! Spewing crap about getting it on with some random guy, is she?"

It was Yasmine's turn to look confused. "What?"

"Come on," Bayla made her sit down on the wall again, and settled into a more comfortable position herself. "Don't listen to her. Just cause _she's_ happy to go round snogging anything with a Y chromosome and moves doesn't mean the rest of us do,"

Yasmine felt a bit better for that remark.

"I mean," Bayla went on, gesturing grandly with her apple. "It's not about the boys. Who gives a damn? I'm only there for the music! And to have a good time. Listen, stick with me and Vid and you'll have no problems. If Andi decides she wants to try and hook you up with someone we'll knock him one for you."

Yasmine couldn't help but laugh. "I'm so glad you'll be there too. I don't know what I'd do if I was caught out by myself."

"No worries!" Bayla grinned, munching more sedately now. "Like dad says, _Hakuna Matata_."

"Zandal?"

"Don't ask…"

Yasmine smiled knowingly. Although, really she _didn't_ know; there was something unknown and mysterious about Bayla's father, like the fact that Paine could never tell her where exactly he came from, and always put his slightly idiosyncratic tendencies down to the fact that he hung with many different Zandal Tribes, even though he was different from the rest of Spira in way that Elodie wasn't. Bayla never really spoke about it much, although she'd tell anyone who would listen about the campfire stories they used to tell when they had been on Yuna's pilgrimage. The one about the scorpions in the Calm Lands just never seemed to get old, especially since Elodie could re-enact the look on Tidus' face after he'd fallen over backwards down a slope and nearly broken his neck.

"Was it just that that had you so worried?" Bayla asked, shaking Yasmine from her reverie. "Silly! You should have known we'd take care of you! Luca's _nothing_ like as cultured and sophisticated as Bevelle. It's like a cross between Besaid and Kilika – rowdy and good-natured with a tendency to get carried away. Plus there's more people and more alcohol here."

Yasmine tried to smile, thinking about the other thing she hadn't admitted yet.

"Although, gotta admit, the guys in Bevelle are probably far more interesting than around here," Bayla laughed. "All into the arts and reading and stuff. The gits at school in Besaid are all way too sports orientated. Plus, _none_ of them are exactly what you'd call _exceedingly_ handsome…"

Yasmine tried to hide her face and her blush discreetly.

"What you hiding away for?" Bayla reached out her hand and took hold of Yasmine's wrist. Expecting to have her arm forcefully moved, it came as a surprise when Bayla gently lowered it instead. "There's something else you haven't told me."

Yasmine gave her shoe a weak smile. Well, she'd already humiliated herself once, might as well go all the way with it.

"I've never been kissed before."

"Oh."

Yasmine couldn't tell what that meant, until Bayla spoke again, and what she said surprised her.

"Me neither."

"_What_?" Yasmine gaped at her in amazement.

"Okay, I can see why you didn't want to say that out loud, cause that look you're giving me is a _little bit_ insulting." The grin on Bayla's face was reassuring enough.

"Sorry," Yasmine said contritely. "Just that…I didn't think that…"

"You were the only one?" Bayla said brightly. "I take back what I said about the guys at school. They're really great and all, but I grew up with them, and they _know_ me. I'm Tidus' girl, the guitar player and the part time blitzer when I can be bothered. And then out there," she gestured at the walk way below them, and the few people who were walking there, admiring the sea. "To them I'm Lady Yuna's daughter. Guys at home won't kiss me cause I'm like their little sister, and guys out there only want to cause of who my mom is. Think it's really clever to get with the High Summoner's daughter."

"Has anyone ever tried?" Yasmine asked, so glad that Bayla understood her dilemma, and was in the same boat as her.

"Yeah, _tried_." Bayla scoffed, looking annoyed at the memory. "We were in Kilika at a street party, it was late and the guys had all got drunk and I heard one of them say something like 'It'd be so cool and good for my rep if I got with the high summoner's daughter, watch this lads!'"

"What happened?" Yasmine could probably guess what had befallen the poor soul…

"I heard it, I saw him coming, told him to piss off. When he didn't I decked him so hard he fell into the canal. Then Vidina got his hands on the git," the vindictive tone in her voice was strangely comforting.

"Hmm," Yasmine sighed. At least some had _tried_ it with Bayla…

"Oh, _now_ what?"

"That's never happened to me before." It killed her to admit it, and yet it made her feel so light and free at the same time.

"So you feel like you're not pretty enough or something?" Bayla shot an arrow right into the heart of the problem.

Ignoring Yasmine's indignant scowl, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a mirror. It was round, backed with silvery blue metal wrought into the shape of two fish swimming round a lily in the centre. Bayla held it up and shifted round so that they were side-by-side, and pointed at the image in the reflective glass.

"Look. Know what I see?"

Yasmine could see herself, dark skinned compared to Bayla's relatively pale complexion; eyes that were dark brown, with a tint of red to the edge of the irises, and short hair almost white in colour, fashioned vaguely after her mother's, and looking thoroughly confused.

Bayla was so different; fair skinned despite her childhood on a tropical island, hair like milk chocolate that seemed to frame her face perfectly, with a fringe that just hid enough of her ocean eyes to give her a mysterious look. The whole effect was ruined by her huge grin.

"I see two young, naïve and inexperienced young girls on the cusp of adulthood, and both of them are gonna have a _great_ night having fun with their friends," Bayla's serious tone, coupled with her frightfully delirious grin, was making Yasmine laugh. "And their guys friends are gonna wipe the dance floor with any douche bag who tries anything funny!"

They both fell about laughing, and Bayla slid her mirror back into her pocket. Once they had both calmed down, they looked at each other, and started laughing all over again. However, they eventually got over their hysterics, and were able to have a decent conversation.

"Besides," Bayla went on teasingly. "It's hard not to lose your parents in Bevelle; any guy that tries it on with you would find your mother's sword in his throat. No one can be _that_ stupid…"

Yasmine giggled at the thought. Yes, her mother _would_ be on the warpath if that happened…

"So anyway, got any plans on what you're gonna wear?" Bayla asked, finishing her apple off and standing up on the wall.

"Well, Andi picked something out for me a the other day…" Yasmine began, but stopped as she watched Bayla drop kick the apple core towards a bin some twenty feet away.

It sailed on and over the top of it, and Bayla cursed loudly in Al Bhed.

"One sec," she ran over and picked it up, before chucking it over her shoulder and whacking it with her ankle, propelling it towards the bin behind her.

Again, it sailed neatly over the top and landed on the ground with a barely audible thud.

Bayla swore loudly and picked it up, before standing square onto the bin and slamming it down inside, shouting, "And stay there!"

Yasmine giggled as she stalked back, muttering darkly under her breath. Once seated on the wall again, Bayla took a deep breath, covering her face with her hands before exhaling in one, long, controlled breath.

"I'm good. So, what were we saying?"

"Err, what we were going to be wearing-"

"Aw crap!" Bayla smacked herself between the eyes. "I didn't bring anything, I just remembered!"

"We could go look now," Yasmine suggested. "I think the market's still open."

"Yeah, okay. What about what you're wearing? Gimme details!"

Yasmine laughed and began describing the clothes Andi had picked out for her that day – years ago it felt now – and wondering out loud whether they would be appropreiate.

Before they left, they went up to their room and Yasmine showed Bayla, who cooed over them and saying how they brought out her eyes and giving her a goofy grin. She laughed at Yasmine's scowl and said innocently, "Well, green and red go together really well. And it complements your skin tone no end!"

Yasmine grabbed a pillow and smacked her with it, and Bayla retreated, giggling like a young child on Mid Winter's Day.

They both went back down stairs, and Bayla sighted Vidina on the balcony. She called a halt to their procession to grab him, but they found he was talking deeply with Gippal about his new job and continued education.

"Just one sec," he promised Bayla as her face fell, leaving her looking miserable in a tragically hilarious way.

Kai bounced over to see what was going on, and started gushing when they told her about the clothes shopping. That in turn drew Rosie and Andi, who proclaimed loudly that she had left her own outfit in Guadosalm, and had to get a new one.

Deka sidled up meekly, gave her big sister the best puppy dog eyes Yasmine had ever seen, and said, "Can I come with to give you artistic opinion?"

Bayla swooped down on her little sister and hugged her tight. "Of course! What d'you reckon? Blue? Green? Pink and yellow stripes?"

Deka giggled as the suggestions became slowly more ludicrous. Finally, Vidina detached himself from Gippal and came over, raising an eyebrow at the sea of girls around him.

"What about the others?" he demanded. "Aren't there any guys comin' with?"

Bayla shook her head. "My dad's got my brother, Ruba and Paco. They've gone to blitz round the docks for a bit, and Aunt Rikku's got the other two. So it's just us!" she hugged him, ignoring the look of disgust on his face.

"What about Tarak!" he protested as he was frog marched onto the street outside by the tide of girls.

"Who cares?" Rosie said flippantly, tossing her curly blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah?" Kai mimicked her twin, pulling faces at Andi and flouncing around like a pampered princess. "Who _cares_?"

Eventually, Vidina sandwiched himself between Bayla and Yasmine as they marched up and down the stalls. At first Yasmine felt flattered that he wanted to spend time in her company, but that crumbled when Bayla made a joke about his great escape from the female rabble and he laughed it off.

"I'm not gonna have to flatter _you_ if you try somethin' on, ya? You won't expect me to give you any artistic advice! You only care if it does your figure justice,"

Yasmine only just managed a smile as Bayla grabbed a dress as they walked past a stall, spun round on her back leg and held it up over her chest, striking a ridiculous pose and saying, "Does this make me look fat?"

The group broke up, and since Yasmine had attached herself so firmly to Bayla, Andi didn't try to interfere or change her outfit for tonight. She was still feeling gloomy until Bayla found a shop with some nice looking dresses and went into the tiny changing room to try a few on.

Vidina tapped her shoulder and grinned when she looked up at him, startled.

"You okay? You been pretty quiet since we left the hotel, ya?"

"Hmm," a smile quirked her lips. "Just hoping Andi doesn't catch me."

He laughed brightly, and turned to look at a slinky black dress on the wall next to them.

"You know what? The scary thing about this is," he grabbed a handful of the material, pulling a face. "My mom probably used to wear stuff like this!" he turned his hazel eyes to her, but they slid to the left and settled on Deka, who was bouncing with excitement. "Heh! Too bad we can't get you in too, Deks!"

"Gimme a few more years and I'll be partying with you like there's no tomorrow!" she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Tah-dah!" Bayla swept out of the curtained room with a salmon pink dress that barely covered any of her thighs. "Not gonna lie, I thought this would stretch more than it has…"

Yasmine stared at Bayla in what most have been horror, because Vidina howled with laughter at her.

"If your dad catches you wearin' that he'll _kill_ you!" he said to Bayla.

"But what about colour and stuff? Forget the style for a moment, I know it's a lost cause!" she waved her arms vaguely.

"Naw," Vidina looked her up and down as she twirled on the spot. "Makes your butt look _big_."

Bayla gave him a withering look.

"I mean, it makes it look _really_ big." Vidina went on conversationally.

Deka walked over to her sister and gave her a hug. "It's a pretty colour that goes with your skin tone, but it makes you look like an expensive whore."

"Okay, it's out," Bayla flung herself behind the curtains again.

"Sin had _nothing_ on your butt in that dress-" Vidina went on, but had to stop because Deka flew at him, a bundle of fists and purple skirts as she pummelled him. "Woah, woah!" he said, grabbing her under the arms and lifting her off the ground. "Easy, Tiger!"

Deka stuck her tongue out at him, feet dangling several inches off the floor. "Meanie!"

Yasmine just had to laugh. She had missed the camaraderie that came with these people; it felt so easy and natural to laugh with them, to be a part of their antics, and not worry about setting an example or making a good impression.

"Eww," Bayla trotted out of the room, scowling at the dress she wore.

Yasmine jumped when Vidina exploded with laughter, pointing at the garishly bright pink dress Bayla wore. It was certainly more respectable in length and cut, though perhaps a bit too low in the bust. Either way, Bayla had the figure to carry it off – a big enough bust with a slender waist – that looked rather flattering on her.

Only…that colour was absolutely _ghastly_. When asked, Yasmine told her this, and Bayla merely shrugged.

"I'm just looking for ideas at the moment, never want to buy in the first shop you walk into." But as they were walking away from the shop towards the next square, after two more failed dresses, Bayla pulled a face and said, "But I wasn't gonna buy from there anyway. Did you _see_ the prices? What a rip off!"

Yasmine began to enjoy herself more and more as the day wore on; Deka kept getting sidetracked and Bayla kept running after her – partly to see what had caught her interest and partly to keep an eye on her. She found this out because Vidina told her, among other pieces conversation.

"She'd throw herself off a cliff for that girl," Vidina sighed dramatically, looking over a box of jewellery. The vender – a young looking man with thick round glasses smiled and started trying to sell them all of his wares at once.

"I wish _I_ had a younger brother or sister." Yasmine said, twirling a bangle meditatively between her fingers.

"Heh," Vidina took the bangle from her, their fingers brushing just briefly, and leaving her feeling very tingly. "Can't really say I feel the same. I got Bayla, which is just as bad as havin' an actual sister." He inspected the bangle closely. "Ah! Look," he showed her, scraping the gold foil off to reveal faded metal. "Gold painted copper. So not worth the money,"

They had to leave after that comment as the vendor gave them a dirty look, propelling them away by the sheer force of his indignation. They talked a bit more, about their respective homes, and Yasmine confided in him the pressures of life in Bevelle, and how she longed for a simpler life like his.

"Heh," Vidina smiled, watching Bayla from afar as she and Deka tried on different hats outside a shop front, pulling faces at each other. "Guess that's why I'm leaving for Bikanel."

"Oh, I heard Bayla saying that. Are you going into research?"

He nodded. "Machina and fiend activity. Should be interestin', at least I won't get bored without Bay around…" he laughed.

"Why-?" Yasmine began, but she stopped, not sure how or if she should phrase her question.

"Go on," Vidina encouraged.

Not looking at him, Yasmine took a steadying breath and said, "Why…do you guess, that that's why you're leaving Besaid?"

"Well…" Vidina strode on down the street, and she had to run a few steps to catch up. "Since you put it _that_ way about Bevelle…kinda makes me feel selfish, ya? But…Besaid's still a small community, at least compared to somewhere like Bevelle. We grew up with kids, who parents knew _our_ parents, and so on _way_ back, so many generations…it's easy to forget what they've done, and easy for us to just be ourselves." He gave a nervous chuckle, and scratched the back of his neck absently. "Guess I've always just taken it for granted."

"Hmm." Yasmine watched Bayla tow Deka inside another shop. "I suppose you have a right to want something different, if that's all you've ever known. You can have the excitement of going somewhere else, and…" her voice faltered when she stopped to think about it. Would she _ever_ get the chance to just be normal? So much was riding on her ability to excel; she just couldn't turn her back on so many people, could she?

"You _do_ have the right to want something else." Vidina said with a certainty that washed away her doubts. "If you never try another way of living, you'll never broaden your horizons. Isn't that the whole point of 'building Spira anew'? How can we when we're living in our own worlds, separated from everythin' else?"

Yasmine looked up at his serious face and smiled. "You would make a very good speaker in the senate – you have a way with words."

Vidina grinned at her. "Aunt Yuna's probably one of the only good influences in my life, ya? She can motivate the most bone idle and _lazy_ person in the world to get up and go out there and do somethin' worthwhile. Just look at Tidus – nearly forty now and he's _still_ blitzing."

Yasmine's smile didn't fade for a long time, and they continued to talk as they walked down the street, stopping every so often to look at something as it caught their eye. Yasmine told him about her own studies, and he told her about what he was hoping to achieve with the Al Bhed; it seemed as though he had high goals and standards that he had set up himself, but his determination and the way he talked about his plans made Yasmine believe that he would attain them.

It brought another smile to her face as she realised he was proving her point about his public speaking skills. Even his colloquial accent made his voice engaging and easy to listen to. And there was just something…something she couldn't quiet put her finger on. Something that made her constantly look up at his face as though she were trying to memorise every inch.

Vidina was rather a handsome young man, when Yasmine stopped to take note – his red hair was a tousled mess, but it seemed to fit exactly with his personality; rough around the edges, but idiomatic – natural, even, in his mannerisms and words – far cry from the political pleasantries she always had to deal with. His skin was tanned from long years in the sun, and auburn stubble was growing on his strong, angular chin; his eyebrows were much darker than his hair, which somehow complemented his hazel eyes.

Yasmine caught herself in time. Honestly! Eyebrows couldn't complement _anything_ unless you were trying to gauge one's emotions.

She was being utterly ridiculous, but as the conversation flowed she found herself noting more and more details about him – like she was trying to memorise him while she still had the chance. His bright aqua bandana was wrapped three times around his wrist instead of around his head; he wore a pendant of heavy silver wrought in the shape of a fish made only from one line of metal, hung on a leather thong around his neck; there were piercings in his ears, some of which carried silver studs and a couple of small rings. His left arm swung back and forth as he walked, and he had obviously doodled across it in Al Bhed; his cursive was scruffy but legible, although the little doodle of a flan complete with red ink to emphasise the magic element it was casting was a little confusing.

Yasmine asked, and Vidina shrugged. "Got bored. Then Gippal started talking to me. See this?" he raised his arm up so she could look on the inside of his upper arm. There was a half finished dive talon. "Got interrupted." He spoke in a mockingly pained voice, making her laugh at the hurt and injury of not being able to finish his doodle.

They were shocked out of their peaceful reverie when someone yelled after them, and they both spun round in alarm – only to find Deka running towards them, followed swiftly by Bayla, who was grinning.

"Look look _look_!" Deka bounced for joy, pointing at the bag in Bayla's hands.

"How's _this_ for a clubbing dress?" Bayla said dramatically, reaching in and pulling the bundle of fabric out, shaking it to get rid of the creases and present it to their stunned faces. "Wha'cha think?"

XOXOX

Baralai leaned back in his chair, thinking deeply on what Elodie had just shown him. Gippal had brought more sophisticated equipment with him, and El was showing them the data her team had collected. She had just finished showing them an over view of the ruined temple – or 'building' since none of them knew exactly what the structure had originally been – with some overlaying diagrams someone had drawn over the image to show what may have been there before it had been eroded away.

"There's a jaguar species living in there, so we didn't get _too_ many details on it," she told them, flicking through the images being projected by Gippal's Sphere Cone. "But we _did_ manage to get to this arch way." She showed them the photos, and Baralai sat up with interest.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the carved stone lintel.

Elodie made the image swing round, which then made it spin out of control leaving Gippal to rectify the problem.

"Gah! Stupid thing…" she grumbled, trying to get the hang of the zoom function. "Machina's all well and good until it stops working. Then it's a pain in the arse…"

One of the reasons Baralai enjoyed working with Elodie was that she was just like every other seasoned fighter in the trade; she took nonsense from no one, swore continuously, and only ever gave her respect to those she deemed worthy. As a result, he liked to get her to help vet various people for specific jobs within New Yevon. The fact that she and Paine agreed on many levels for similar things made it easier to weed out the less able.

"Okay, in answer to your question," she stuck her hand into the image, making the lines blur for a moment from the interference. "_That_ looks to me like a lunar calendar of some description. If you take a look here," she handed him a sheet of floppy plastic that was held like a scroll, and acted like a screen. "This is one found on the welcome arch at the Zanarkand out post for the Stroma. You can see your Polaris," she tapped the engraved star on the floppy screen. "Our _Yahweh_. Supposedly gives power to our Shaman, though that's really an old assumption – it comes with manna and herbs in all honesty,"

Gippal gave a snort of laughter, and Baralai smiled. They could always count on her to be painfully honest, even at the cost of her own dignity and that of her tribe.

"But see the arrangement of the stars around it?" she showed them. "_That_," she pointed from the floppy screen to the three dimensional image being projected by the Sphere Cone, "is the same basic arrangement, only it's at a different angle. The theory is that over time the stars in the universe shift around us, so the axis is going to show you a different view of the stars after so many thousands of years. The problem is," she frowned, tossing a handful of braids out of the way of her vision. "Trying to figure out just how long this shift takes. If we could crack that, then dating these ruins would be a piece of cake."

"How long do you reckon that will take?" Baralai asked, holding the screen up to compare the celestial maps.

"With Shinra on the case? Not too long. But not within the next few months, even if he clears his schedule of all other research."

"Anything else about these ruins?" Gippal asked, taking the floppy screen from Baralai to study himself.

"Well, there are five main structures," Elodie fiddled with the sphere and it zoomed out to show an over view of the jungle island. "Roughly in a diamond formation, with one at the centre. It looks a bit jagged now, but as you can see," she pressed a button, and the green of the jungle dimmed to grey and a series of red circles blossomed across the map where the ruins were, filling in gaps and making a perfect square with a larger block right in the middle. "The jungle claimed back the land after the people who built them left. Which begs a few questions like _why_ build them here and _why_ then leave? We've got no idea at the moment, and I've set a couple of the younger researchers to scouring every library they can find for more information. They're due to report back to base within the next three months," she said to Gippal.

"Carry on," he waved his hand vaguely. "You should be the expedition coordinator, not me."

"I don't like paperwork." Elodie said flatly. "I'm sticking to my guns and the tedious task of physically grabbing the data. Keep your desk job for some other lackey," she pulled a face. "I like my mud and insect bites _just_ the way they are."

They talked on for what must have been hours; Nooj joined them part way through, and so did Paine after a while, and they all set about planning the next big project on the backs of serviettes and old envelopes the hotel staff left lying around.

"How sophisticated," Paine said in a monotone as Gippal and Nooj sketched out the plan for a base camp deeper in the jungle with more defences against wild animal attacks.

"If it works, who cares?" Elodie said offhandedly. "There'll have to be a water supply somewhere, even if we just cart in a few casks of water with the monthly food supply." She added to Nooj. "Collecting rain water is a pain and you can waste that time and energy on actual work. Instead of faffing around for three hours trying to put together an ingenious contraption that delivers water in equal amounts, we could actually go get the samples we need and analyse them and – oh, I don't know – cook _dinner_ for once?"

Though she played it lightly and teasingly, Baralai caught the drift that these were genuine complaints. Still, she was making a fair point about it…

"I don't know if we can spare the men for that," Nooj said seriously, picking up another sheet of paper with scribbled diagrams on the back. "We're up to our necks with fiends down Djose way. We've already had to steal units from other places, and our combined forces are too spread out to do much else about it."

"Well actually," Elodie said slowly and thoughtfully. "This is an important year coming up for the Zandal. It's this big solar event where all the planets are lined up and everything, and it's the Pilanel's job to usher it in. The Stroma have men going spare right now, I could call a few favours in from my tribe. Plus, some of the kids have been off the walls since I promised I'd bring them something back from the jungle." She shook her head indulgently. "Crazy children…anyways,"

They went on planning a little longer, until Tidus and Rikku returned, and the group split up into smaller, less serious and more meaningful conversations. Baralai caught Elodie before she could disappear into the ether.

"Would you mind taking a walk?" he asked politely, not wanting to speak in front of Paine, knowing that what he had to say would alarm her.

"Sure, just one sec," she threw her belongings into a bag and lugged it over to the seat where Tidus was now throwing Sicel into the air and catching him, babbling away in Al Bhed and grinning like only a seasoned father could. "You lose this bag," Elodie kicked his leg. "You lose your life. And your head. And your soul,"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, not turning to look at her. "Divine retribution and all that. I know the drill."

"I mean it!" she rubbed her knuckles into the crown of his head. "A whole year of my life! If anything happens to it your blood is _mine_."

Baralai chuckled as they walked across the decking and down to the street below, following the walkway along the water's edge to nowhere in particular. There was nothing suspicious about this; he was married, and she wore her mourning braid with pride – _he_ was an official for his group, and _she_ was a representative for her tribe, as well as the all round 'jack of all trades' for all organisations in question. Plus, they were both firm friends, so no one could glean any misinformation from their proximity.

The conversation started off light; Elodie asked about Yasmine's studies, and talked a bit more about the social side of the research project. Whatever the weather and plant life had done to annoy her, it seemed as though she had thoroughly enjoyed working with the other members of the team.

"So worth it. Don't think I'd go back again in a hurry for such a long term project, but I'm so glad I went." Elodie grinned as they stopped by a small bridge and watched the rowboats pass in and out of the harbour.

"What would you like to do now?" he asked lightly, noticing a group of teenagers on the other side of the canal, singing and dancing raucously.

"Shit!" she spun round and watched the group pass by before relaxing. "Thank the _fayth!_ Sorry, I thought that was our lot. Thought I was going to have to kill Bayla for being drunk at this hour of the day. Unless those kids pulled an all-nighter, in which case I tip my braids to them,"

Elodie had a way of rambling of subject and snapping back without warning.

"Anyways! Yeah, I've got to somehow convince Bayla that I can take her to a good teacher to make her a medicine woman, then leave her in Bikanel before I push off back to my village to say hi to everyone. I think my cousin's gonna kill me, but not before I see my new nephew."

"Which cousin would this be?" Baralai smiled; El had many, _many_ blood relatives.

She had been the youngest of thirteen herself, though most of them had died before the calm. As Zandal families were so expansive, and the mortality rates used to be so high from Sin attacks, blood meant very little to the point where adults and even teenagers were taking on young children as siblings and progeny.

"The one with the stars all over her face." Elodie said, sounding bored. "The one Tidus doesn't get on with. I should go really, more to see my friends up there and duty to my nieces, but I'll be glad to see my clansmen again. And I can see what they can do to help with the fiend situation. I know my tatt friend will be more than willing, and he's got about seven brothers who need to blow off steam too,"

There was a comfortable pause before Baralai brought the subject round to a more serious matter.

"Would you happen to know what this is?" he asked, producing a zip lock bag with a few shredded leaves inside.

"Where the hell did you get that?" she asked, taking it from him and inspecting it as closely as the bag would allow. "May I?" she motioned to open it, and he nodded. "Hmm," she sniffed at the contents, tipped a few onto her hand and started examining them. "They look like…" she frowned, taking a larger piece and tearing it afresh so she could smell the crisp scent. "Andrana? I don't know…" she balled a smaller piece up and popped it into her mouth, promptly spitting it out onto the ground. "_Drek!_ Tastes like Banshee Grass." She pondered over her observations for a long while.

Eventually, she rounded on Baralai. "Where did this come from, anyway?"

He took a deep breath and began explaining what Tara – his head kitchen staff and confident – had gleaned, and about the assurances for the sincerity of the young Yeleana working under her. Then about the Zandal man who had been in the kitchens recently, and the apparent mess the books were in so that the possible dates for his commencing of work in Bevelle were unaccounted for.

It wasn't encouraging to see Elodie's dark frown as she started mixing the leaves up to look for something she had missed.

"I smell a rat," she stated boldly. "I _think_ this is Kahna Be'ara. That basically means 'Caribou Ear'. See the shape? It's the stuff the herders use to package wounds, though you have to be _so_ careful because the juices inside the leaves can put you in a coma in high enough doses. Don't worry," she added when Baralai started. "You need knotgrass for that, the kind you find around Djose. It's a lengthy process; only a trained medic could pull that off. But still, the leaves can produce toxins if there's fungus growing in the roots. Symptoms range from delirium to psychotic tendencies, delusions and strong hallucinations. It's one of those pesky bastards that affects everyone differently because the chemical and hormonal balance within the body is always changing."

"Yeleana saw this man I spoke of putting some powder on the side dishes that Yasmine ate from." Baralai said. "She told Tara it smelled like rosemary, so she left it at that."

"Ah. _That _old trick."

"What?" he said urgently.

"You mask your nasties with other herbs. A favourite with assassins is to poison a cup of mint tea so the mint over powers the poison until its too late. We'll go back to the hotel and I'll show you,"

And so they did, smiling politely at the others and hurrying to the kitchen where Elodie made a pot of tea with a few of the leaves. After that was done, she set the bowl of strained liquid over a small fire and they left to let it evaporate. The aim was the have a crucible of the possible substance that had caused such concern for Yasmine by the next morning. The kitchen staff were warned to leave it well alone, and since the command came from the stern faced shaman – with her victory braids in a whirl of red and black today – no one objected or commented.

"Hey!" Tidus punched her arm in greeting as they went back out onto the decking. "Where y'been?"

"Around," she shrugged him off. "I don't need to know your exact position every hour. Why need mine?"

"Cause Zuo's pissed at you for testing Bayla and now he wants you to test _him_." Tidus grinned at the thought; the complete opposite of his son's expression from what Baralai could see from where they were standing.

"Okay, fine, lemme find my cards…"

Tidus left them alone, and Elodie drilled Baralai for as much information as she could before departing to play cards.

"Right, so he _said_ he's Pilanel, partially sighted, dark hair and wore bands but no tattoos." She held up the remainder of the leaves. "Found this is the chorale, and his predecessor went down ill with a vomiting virus. Is there anything else I should know?"

"I think that's all." He gave her a weary smile. "I really appreciate this, Elodie."

"No worries," she tucked the bag away into a pouch at her belt and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "I'll dig round the camp outside town later, I know a few Pilanel who said they'd be here for the tournament, and they won't leave until the sphere break competition's over next week. I'll talk to my teacher as well when I see her and I'll report back ASAP."

"Thank you," he grasped her hand in a universal sign of gratitude. "That's a weight off my mind."

"Whenever and _where_ver, my friend. I have time for you." she touched her first and second fingers to her brow, bowing her back slightly to incline her body, before straightening up.

As Elodie walked away, shuffling the deck of cards in her hands, Wakka walked over and took her place, watching the woman as she jumped onto the bench beside Zuo, who instantly became more animated.

"You should feel honoured." Wakka told Baralai.

He laughed. "I have done since I met her with the Gullwings. She's a good person, and an excellent researcher."

"Heh," Wakka slapped him jovially on the back before beating his own slow retreat. "El doesn't give her respect easily. She hasn't got the time of day for most people, ya? When a shaman tells you they have time for you, its one of the highest signs of respect they can give you."

Baralai watched Elodie with new interest; he knew she had high respect for her close friends and extended family, and he knew she respected him enough to deign to follow his instruction from time to time, but to have such a free spirit place so high a value on him like that? He pitied the worm who double-crossed her.

People like Elodie; it could take years to gain her trust and respect, and it would be a matter of seconds to gain her vengeful wrath.

XOXOX

Dustin was going to kill his cousin if it was the last thing he did.

Tarak had led him to believe this little 'jaunt' out in the dark of the night was for exercise and to see the lights of Luca – something about cleansing the soul…

Of course, Dustin had failed to remember what an asshole his cousin was; one moment they were walking down the boulevard, and Dustin had felt _almost_ okay, and the next he was being bundled into a night club by Tarak and Kai against his will.

And he absolutely _hated_ it; it was way too noisy and crowded for a boy who had grown up in the wide, open spaces of the Moon Flow, used to the sounds of running water and cricket song. Not the obnoxious pounding music and press of bodies as everyone danced around in a drunken stupor.

Tarak insisted that Dustin had to be there, to 'meet' the other people that had been staying at the hotel. Dustin didn't know who they were or really care, since he had had a room to himself (albeit a tiny room with one military grade cot and a washbasin with nothing much besides) and wished he were back there right now instead of being hounded into this horrible pit.

When the other people _did_ arrive Tarak left him alone to greet them, and Dustin saw Rosie escorting a girl with short pale hair wearing a green top and black three quarter length leggings, followed by a vaguely familiar young man with bright red hair and a loose fitting yellow dress shirt with the top buttons undone. He was blocking the view of the others behind him, and Dustin made an attempt to leave but Kai forced him to sit down again.

He told her to go do something unsanitary to her mother, and received a smack round the ear for his trouble.

"I don't want to be here," he snarled.

"Have another drink," she said as though she wasn't listening.

"You hear me alright? I _don't_ want to be here!"

"Suck it up. We want you to be sociable. Ma said we had to get you to crawl out of that thick shell of yours, and sands you'll _do it_ whether you like it or not." She fixed him with a steely gaze that reminded him uncomfortably of his own mother. "You can mope and moan later. Right now, I'm taking care of you by chucking you in the deep end. Like it or lump it, buddy – you got no say in the matter."

Tarak came back with the group in tow, and the introductions began. Dustin tried his best to be polite to them while shoot daggers at his cousins, who didn't seem to be paying him any attention.

"Here," Tarak said, punching the red head on the arm. "This is Vidina,"

"Nice to meet you," he said pleasantly, holding a hand out to Dustin.

Judging by his accent he was from Besaid, and the guy had such an open and honest face that Dustin felt himself ease up a little bit

"That's Andi," Tarak pointed at a lean looking girl with brown hair shot through with blonde.

She wore a pretty beige dress that faded in colour as it went down, flaring out at her hips and flattering what few curves she had. Her face had quite strong features, and her clear blue eyes were obscured by the stylish glasses she wore. It wasn't that she had an unpleasant face, but something about her just felt off putting – as though he knew instantly they wouldn't be good friends.

"Hi," he said when she didn't offer her hand.

"Hello," she said coolly, appraising him before turning her attention away like his wasn't worth her notice.

"Hey, where did the others go?" Tarak demanded, handing Vidina a beer bottle.

"Toilet." Kai shrugged, chugging her drink. "Yas' feeling a bit off. Probably all that chocolate we had earlier…"

"Want something?" Tarak asked Dustin.

Well, if nothing else had made him feel better recently, why not try alcohol for one night? He wouldn't be drinking back at New Home so what harm could it do?

The first drink did nothing for him, but as the group began to disperse towards the dance floor he decided that another drink couldn't hurt. He could hear someone yelling over the sound of the pounding base for Tarak, and guessed it was one of the other girls he had yet to meet.

"OI!" they screamed, and it almost made Dustin laugh. "I'M NOT DONE YELLING AT YOU YOU BASTARD! DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!"

Vidina roared over her, "_Cool it, ya?_"

Even with his back turned, Dustin could feel the beginnings of an argument coming on. There was a scuffle nearby, which may or may not have been related to whoever had been shouting, and in his eagerness to see the person who had been yelling at Tarak, Dustin pushed away from the bar and turned to find him. He walked right into someone who yelped, and spilt his drink down them in surprise. The girl next to her gasped and looked around wildly for something to mop it up with.

Dustin couldn't help but stare. He remembered this girl from the first day of the tournament, the one who had been looking for her brother, and suddenly the connection with the familiar red haired boy fell into place.

Blinking, Dustin took her in now as she stood before him, staring in surprise at the soaking front of her beautiful dress. It was white at the top, fading into a deep blue at the hem just above her knees, and would probably have flattered her body more if it weren't plastered to her with alcohol.

She looked up, blank shock in her pretty blue eyes, and he gulped. Then, she turned to the girl in green beside her, and gave one snort of laughter.

"I owe Vidina twenty gil!"

The other girl laughed, and accepted the towel the barman handed to her, and tried to help mop her friend's dress up.

"I-" way to look like a moron, Dustin.

_Again_…

"I'm so sorry," he stuttered, knowing it was too late to repair the damage.

"No worries," she said flippantly, taking the towel and dabbing at the waistband. "Least it wasn't wine or beer – I'd be screwed!"

"HEY!"

Dustin was nearly knocked off his feet when Vidina came storming over and gave him such a filthy look that he reconsidered his assessment of the man earlier.

"What the hell's goin' on? This douche bag givin' you trouble, eh?"

Dustin gaped at the transformation of this seemingly pleasant young man.

"It's a _glass of lemonade and vodka_ you idiot!" she snapped at him, whacking him with the wet towel. "It's not like he tried to stabbed me you dolt!"

Vidina glowered at Dustin, who was still gaping at him like a fish on a hook. Then Tarak arrived with Kai, and if he hadn't been so pissed off with him Dustin would have kissed his cousin.

"What the hell, guys?" he took in the sight of the two girls mopping up his mess, along with his near empty glass, and Vidina's rage. "Oh. Yeah, right… Girls, this is my cousin Dustin. Dustin, this is Yasmine," the girl in green gave him a weak smile. "And this is Bayla."

"Hi," she said, holding a hand out to him while letting Yasmine clean her up. "Sorry, I should have looked where I was going!"

"What happened?" Tarak demanded of the girls while Vidina took a step back, his expression dark and foreboding.

"Well…" Yasmine bit her lip and looked from Bayla to Vidina.

"Well, basically," she rounded on Tarak, whipping him with the soaked towel. "I was too busy yelling at you to notice where I was going so I walked into this poor guy and got a free shower." She narrowed her eyes at him, poking him hard in the chest. "I blame _you_ for this!"

"Yeah sure, whatever. I gotta go find Andi. Just don't make an ass of yourself again, okay?"

"Hey!" Bayla tried to barrel after him as she melted into the crowd. "Oi! Get back here!"

Dustin tried to slide out of the way so her ire wouldn't be turned on him, but Vidina just grabbed her round the waist, threw her over his shoulder and walked away, with Yasmine trailing behind and giggling at her.

"I hate you _so_ much right now!" she snarled, hitting him in the back.

Feeling that it would be prudent to hide away for a bit, Dustin wedged himself into the corner right at the end of the bar and avoided attracting attention. This didn't work because a couple of girls from the crowd on the dance floor kept coming over and trying to get him to notice them. It was getting really tiresome until he saw the Bayla girl again make her way over to the bar, and lean across to try and get a drink.

The girl twirling a lock of hair round her fingers next to Dustin smiled as he stood up, but must have scowled as he quickly walked away. He wasn't sure what he was going to do or say when he found himself standing beside her. At a loss, he did the one thing he could think of at the time – clear his throat.

Bayla looked briefly over her shoulder before doing a double take.

"Oh, hey!" she had to speak loudly over the noise, but her smile was sincere. "Sorry, I don't remember your name."

"Dustin," he told her. "Let me buy you a drink," it probably wouldn't patch up the stupid things he'd said and done so far, but it was worth a shot…

"Oh, don't worry," she held up her fist with several notes clutched in it. "Tarak's paying since he admitted it was all his fault!"

She turned away from him as the barman got round to her and started ordering a round of drinks. While the man went to get another bottle of wine since they had run out, she turned to Dustin with a smile, and shouted over the sudden pounding of a heavy baseline.

"So, Dusty! How do you know Tarak again?"

"He's my cousin,"

"Oh, cool! I thought you guys looked similar,"

Well, they _were_ both typical Al Bhed youths, but he made no comment.

"So…how do _you _know Tarak?"

Bayla said something, but someone had jumped up onto a nearby table and started singing loudly while everyone around stamped their feet, and her voice was drowned out.

"Sorry, didn't catch that!"

"Friends of the family!" she yelled, just about making herself heard.

The barman came back, poured the glass of wine and gave her the bill. She paid quickly, and smiled when he tried to give her change.

"Keep it, thanks for that mate, really appreciate it!"

Dustin blinked. Her accent sounded _almost _Zandal at that moment, but then she was balancing two glasses, a wine glass and five beer bottles in her arms, yelling in the most typical Spiran accent as she had done earlier.

"Tarak! Vid! Where the hell are you!" then over her shoulder, beckoning with a flick of her head because her arms were laden. "Come with?"

Dustin blinked, balancing on the brink of chickening out and going back to his room, when someone put a hand on his shoulder from behind and said, "Hey there, sexy,"

He practically ran after Bayla – as difficult as that was at such close quarters with everyone else. But he caught up with her, and she smiled before breaking into a small opening round a side table where Tarak and the others were sitting.

"Here," she place the pink glass in front of the beige girl, and the other acid green one before Rosie. "There's your dry wine," she set it down by Yasmine's right hand, and she smiled in thanks. "Grab a beer guys!" she said, dropping all but one onto the tabletop and the others reached for them.

"Hey, you got one too many!" Vidina told her in a huff.

Bayla shrugged, grabbed the bottle and handed it to Dustin. "Fancy a beer?"

"Err," he blinked. "No thanks, I'm good,"

"Any takers?" she asked the table at large. "Going once going twice _gone_." She pulled out a small penknife and prised the cap off.

"Hey, _I_ want another beer!" Tarak complained.

"You didn't speak, now forever hold your piece." Bayla took a large swig.

"Heh, you suck," Kai laughed at her brother.

Tarak scowled at her, before noticing Dustin still standing there. "Sit down, idiot." He said, patting the space beside him.

"Oh, hang on!" Bayla picked up a handbag that looked as though it didn't belong in a nightclub – worn brown leather with Zandal fringing – and dumped it in a pile with other bags, then squeezed her way past Vidina to sit beside Yasmine. "More space over there now,"

Tarak got up and dragged Dustin down beside him. At first he tried his best to avoid eye contact, but as the music shifted genres the twins jumped to their feet and ran to the dance floor, taking the prim looking Andi girl with them.

"Fancy it?" Bayla said to Yasmine, who gave her a worried look. "Okay, this song's shit anyway."

Since there were fewer people, it was easier to talk to each other in this little pocket, and Tarak and Vidina started talking animatedly about New Home. It sounded as though he was about to start working there, and Dustin tuned them out. Instead, he listened to the girls talking, and found himself leaning over to hear better – and what they had to say was _far_ more interesting than machina.

Bayla seemed to be accomplished in the most ancient and noble art of people watching, and she was scouting out likely subjects in the crowd, one of which was the girl who would have molested Dustin if he hadn't followed Bayla.

"Fayth! Check out the bust line on _that_ skank,"

"Are you sure my parents won't find out about this?" Yasmine asked, looking nervous. "If they thought I was wearing something like _that_ they would kill me!"

"Hey, Kai, Andi and I bullied you into this. We'll take the blame if it comes around. But just look!" she pointed boldly into the crowd at the girl. "It's like she _wants_ the whole of Spira to see her tits,"

"Hey, hey!" Vidina leant over and tapped her on the back of the head. "Mind your mouth now!"

"Piss off!" she spat at him, and it occurred to Dustin that she was actually still sober since her words weren't slurred and she had superb balance. "You're not my father!"

"No," Vidina said evenly, flicking her nose. "But your _daddy_ gave me permission to be your Guardian for the night. So if you get in trouble, _I_ get in trouble, ya?"

"Seriously," Bayla took a swig of beer and rounded on him. "Sod _off_. I don't need a babysitter,"

They started bickering like an old married couple until Kai rushed over, grabbed Yasmine, and ran off again. Yasmine looked distressed, and tried to cling to Bayla's arm, but to no avail. However, Bayla noticed the theft, and dropped her conversation to run after them.

Vidina roared with laughter, turned to Tarak and said, "We had to drag Yas out here in the first place! Bayla designated _herself_ as a Guardian,"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Tarak said nonchalantly. Then he sat up and grinned as the music changed yet again to a more popular and easy dancing number. "Kai's a frickin' _genius_!"

They both stood up, and as Vidina shuffled his way out from behind the table trying not to tip it over, Tarak asked if Dustin would join them.

"It'll be fine, promise," he put an arm under Dustin's and carted him away from the table, not letting him have a say in the matter. "We're not that scary, honest!"

Dustin dug his heels in and forced Tarak into a recess in the wall so they could talk. "Listen," he snarled as the intro ended and the congregation started belting out the lyrics. "Not to sound overly dramatic, but I don't think the best way to get over the grief of losing your family is this!"

"Dude," Tarak put a hand on his shoulder. "You're already drunk. You always were a flyweight. C'mon," and he towed them both over to where Vidina stood towering over everyone else.

Andi and Rosie were bouncing on the balls of their feet like it was a rave, and Kai and Bayla were singing in tune to the song. Yasmine was close to Vidina's elbow, looking windswept but nonetheless having fun. Dustin found himself thrown into the thick of it, and Bayla grinned, offering him the other beer bottle she hadn't drunk from yet.

With a shrug, he took it from her and let himself get completely drunk.

XOXOX

Bayla stuck herself to Yasmine for most of the evening. She had almost chickened out in the end, but Bayla had begged her to come, and she had fended off most of the would-be lover boys single-handed. Then she handed it over to Vidina so she could dance round the floor with Kai; she needn't have worried because the two of them followed her anyway, and she let Rosie start taking pictures since she was a bit too tipsy to care anymore.

It was one of the fortunate things she had inherited from her father, the ability to drink and stay sober for quite a long time. Although, that gift was dampened by reacting the same way her mother did when she finally succumbed to the alcohol; giggle at everything that moved and-or made a noise. And she was certainly heading that way when she caught Vidina's eye and they both started laughing uncontrollably. It wasn't even that funny!

Tarak took her aside at one point and asked her to help him with his cousin, and Bayla tried to brush him off.

"But I need help!" Tarak pleaded. "He doesn't want to be here, but I think it's important. He needs to get out more,"

"What, you tryin' to get him laid or something?" she snarled. "Tarak, I thought you were better than that!"

"No!" he said angrily. "He's been hiding himself away from the world recently, and I think getting him out will do him good."

Bayla thought as best she could through the fog in her mind on this, then said slowly, "What you want me to do, exactly?"

"Get him to join in," Tarak looked sincerely harassed, so she took pity on him.

"All right. I dunno why you're asking me – he lost his drink down my dress, he's probably too embarrassed to-"

"Oh, trust me," Tarak gave her a wicked smile. "It'll work."

Rolling her eyes, Bayla left to conduct her mission, and ran back to the main group. Trying to play up her tipsy state of mind, she grabbed Dusty by the arm and dragged him into the centre of the dancing. He stared at her in amazement and terror when he found himself in the thick of it, but she grinned and threw her hands into the air.

"Just dance it off!" she shouted over the speakers.

His movements were wooden and stiff, and it took a bit of persuading from both her and Kai to get him to loosen up. She hated to admit that Tarak's new round of drinks probably got him going more loosely, but Bayla questioned the wisdom behind the act when it became clear that his cousin was well and truly drunk.

Even in her own semi-intoxicated state, Bayla was able to appreciate his physique. Tanned and blonde like all Al Bhed men, with those eyes that had always intrigued her from an early age. It was hard to tell what style his hair was, since it was sticking up from him constantly running his hand through it and the sweat from dancing. The resemblance between him and Tarak was so visible now that she looked more closely, but there was something about his face…she couldn't put her finger on it – unless it was down to how much she and Tarak abused each other – but Dusty seemed to have a more pleasant face. At least, he did once he started dancing with them, unlike the quiet, brooding expression he had worn at the table.

Bayla had no idea how long they had been dancing on and off while going back for more drinks, but Vidina grabbed her and said they had to go back. _Now_, or they would be killed by their parents when they were eventually found.

In the time it took to find the twins and Andi (Yasmine was still close by her side) Tarak had already left with Dusty, and said he'd see them all in the morning. Which was technically now…

"'Ang on," Bayla pushed her way into the girls bathroom. "You keep an eye on her," she said to Vidina.

Andi was busy being sick while Rosie held her hair up, and Kai looked bored.

"I'll just wait outside then," she said quickly, "We'll be by the water's edge!"

It gave her the shock of her life when she let the door swing shut behind her, to find Vidina leaning down towards Yasmine's startled face. He gave her a quick kiss, _right_ on the corner of her mouth where it was still technically on the cheek, and Bayla was ready to tear him to pieces – life long childhood friend be damned!

But Yasmine just giggled, and Bayla shrugged it off, since it was clearly not unwelcome attention. Either they were just tipsy, or maybe they were acting on earlier impulses under the guise of alcohol. She'd seen the way Yas had been watching Vidina earlier in the day whilst dress shopping, and while she wasn't the guru of relationships, Bayla prided herself on not being stupid.

Outside the club, they encountered an argument between Tarak and Dusty, and Bayla had to grabbed Vidina to stop him from trying to take the poor guy out. She loved this over sized red haired teddy bear very much, but he was too boneheaded to look beyond his nose half the time, and he was too stubbornly protective.

"We're good, Vid," Tarak said angrily. "Everything's fine. Just had too much to drink," he nodded at his cousin, who slurred something unintelligible.

"Err, the other's are still in there," Bayla pointed at the doors. "Could you hang round a bit to walk them back? We need to go before Aunty Paine comes looking for us with her army."

"Oh, _fine_. Come on, stupid," Tarak towed his cousin back indoors, and left the three of them outside.

"Shall we?" Bayla motioned for them to keep walking, and feel in step beside Vidina.

It was uneventful enough on the walk back, but Yasmine kept tripping in the stupid shoes Andi had given her to wear, so in the end Bayla took both her own and Yasmine's shoes and slung them over her shoulder on her thumb. Vidina stopped to unlace his own shoes so that they were all in the same boat, and they tottered back up towards the hotel together, laughing at everything and nothing.

When they arrived and the front door darkened with a silhouette, Bayla thought they were about to get an ear full of it, but upon closer inspection it was only El.

That woman was the veteran of many a drink up and all-nighter, so she understood the condition they were coming back in. They pitched up, shoes in hand (Vidina had tied his laces together and wore them like a necklace) and all swaying on the spot – Elodie merely sighed in a light, resigned tone…if sighs could _have_ a tone, that is. Bayla's head felt all fuzzy like…

"Everyone else went to bed early, said I'd stay up for your sorry butts." She gave them a steely look, belied by her smile. "Get your arse upstairs _now_ so that you have some sort of sleep before you have to go home tomorrow. I'll say you all had a bad pizza or something, but if your parents find out the truth I'm not covering for you."

"Cheers," Vidina slurred, giving her a big kiss on the cheek. "You lover-ly woman! You know what, ya? You're the besssst almost aunt everrr!"

"Get him in bed, will you?" Elodie said to Bayla. "And where the hell is everyone else?"

"Coming, Andi wasn't doing to good…"

"Go on, before he wakes everyone up," El shooed them upstairs.

Bayla ushered Yasmine towards their rooms before she dragged Vidina back to his. She dumped him on his bed, rolling him onto his side just in case he threw up, but she seriously doubted that he would by this point. Then, with no pride left in her, Bayla strode as best she could back to her own room, where she tugged the dress off and wriggled her way into her favourite chocobo themed nightshirt.

"Hey!" Deka mumbled sleepily. "What gives?"

"When you're sixteen, you'll understand…" Bayla muttered darkly. "Man, I'm gonna die tomorrow…if dad doesn't make me die first…"

"You mean kill you?"

"Yeah…that thing you just said…"

Deka rolled over, and Bayla felt something press against her temples before a cool sensation spread through her body. Her little sister had just used a cure spell on her, and Bayla was about to kiss her and tell her just how awesome a little sister she was, when Deka fell fast asleep on top of her.

Oh yeah, of course… Deka always ended up using more mana than she really needed to – it was sort of a weakness of hers, and it stopped her from getting any further in her studies.

"_Baka_," Bayla told her, giving her younger sister a loving squeeze.

The thought of uprooting from Besaid and leaving Deka behind was something her frazzled mind wouldn't contemplate just yet – better leave that for the morrow…

XOXOX


	7. Decisions

**AN: I spent a couple of days being stuck on this, and then I literally spent four solid hours on it, and I'm quite pleased with the result! xD it was one of those moments of clarity where you just have to get it all down, and damn the time of night! ;)**

**Anyways, there are a couple of Al Bhed lines right at the beginning of this chapter that the character's don't elaborate on so I put the English translation at the end where it's not in the way but its there if you want it ;)**

_**Decisions**_

Tidus watched Elodie very closely over breakfast the next day her braids were back to summer spirits mode, and she was talking intently to Baralai about something in a dialect Tidus wasn't very good with. Still, that didn't mean she could ignore him like this! He just _knew_ the kids had been up way too late last night, and that they'd probably gone clubbing, but since El was the only one who saw them come back, he'd have to wrestle it from her somehow.

But her serious expression as she and Baralai spoke was somewhat off putting – clearly something was wrong, and he was sure she'd tell him what it was sooner or later.

Rikku was sat next to Tidus, trying to convince Meva to eat a little bit of toast, and chatting away animatedly with Yuna about the tournament. Tidus had Sicel on his knee, who was tearing a roll into little pieces in her hands and took a little persuading before she would eat. Paine was at the next table, talking forcibly to Gippal while Leblanc went on and on about some sphere hunt or something (Tidus kept zoning out of the conversation as mush as Paine tried to block her).

Vidina was unusually quiet this morning, as he was scheduled to go back to New Home with Gippal today. Tidus couldn't really blame the morose look on Bayla's face, even if it was partly a hang over – she looked like she'd either scream or burst into tears, and kept her eyes firmly turned away from Vidina.

On the contrary, Rose and Kai were really excited at the prospect of having Vidina on Bikanel, although Kai kept her mouth shut when she saw Bayla's expression.

"Ec dryd dycdo, Sicel?" Rikku cooed at her daughter.

She grinned back, and waved a hand at her mother.

"Oayr!"

"Fa mega pnayt," Tidus said teasingly.

"We need to do this more often," Rikku said, carefully wiping up the mess Meva had made of the toast. "Get together. The kids just love it," she nodded over at Bayla's table where both she and Yasmine were looking under the weather. "Oh dear. They _looked_ happy earlier…"

Slipping easily into Zandal so that Yuna wouldn't catch their drift too quickly, Tidus leant over and said to Rikku, "I think she's gonna miss Vid."

"Oh," Rikku blinked. "Has she said any more about coming up to New Home?"

"Nope. I think she would like a bit more time to think…"

"Ask her before we go," Rikku insisted, slurping her coffee.

Tidus rolled his eyes. "She's not been brought up to be tetherless. Ever thought how maybe she's nervous about leaving Besaid?"

"She's just _so_ like you," Rikku countered, gently pushing a piece of toast into Meva's mouth, which he instantly spat out. "Bayla will be absolutely _fine_. Trust me. And you know if I thought she wasn't happy or settling in I'd do something about it, and let you know right away." She gave him a teasing smile. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not where my little girl's concerned," Tidus said stubbornly, but smiling all the same. "It's the curse of fatherhood."

"Think it over. When we send a ship down to pick up El – _if_ Bayla's decided on yes – we can have her sent up. That way, she'll arrive with someone she knows. This good?"

The phrase was a favourite of Elodie's, to say _Helda Nahk?_ which meant 'this is good?' – or the Spiran equivalent of 'all right?' – and it never failed to calm Tidus down. Maybe is was just the learn response of knowing that whenever it was said, things turned out smoother than anticipated, but it made him feel better.

"I'll talk to her after breakfast,"

"Tsu-tey," Elodie was standing behind him suddenly, making Rikku jump as she spoke a much older dialect. Then, in fluent Stroma, "Come walk with me, we need to talk about things,"

He rolled his eyes at her vagueness, and passed Sicel to Yuna before getting up to follow her. They didn't go that far, only to the end of the gardens and perched themselves on the low wall facing the water. Elodie spent a few minutes messing around with her unruly braids, but she eventually turned to Tidus and spoke.

"Something fishy going on," she said in Spiran.

"Oh, do tell." He snapped. "I don't like being left in the dark,"

"What bee got stuck in _your_ bonnet?" she retorted. "Seems there's some Zandal creep lurking round Bevelle," she explained her conversation with Baralai, and Tidus' eyes widened in understanding. "See?" she went on quietly in Zandal as a few people walked close by on the walkway. "I have a feeling I'm gonna be flitting from place to place for a bit trying to unravel this mess. I was planning on keeping an eye on Bayla for you if she chose to go, but I don't know if I can do that now."

"But Shulay's gonna be round, isn't she?"

"I'm not gonna sugar coat this for you," Elodie began, and then stopped. It was a while before she spoke again. "This guy in Bevelle, it's giving me a nasty feeling. I don't want to be putting Bayla in any danger if I can help it, and this is giving me second thoughts."

"Why?" Tidus felt agitated. "She won't _be_ in Bevelle, will she? She'll be with Rikku and the Al Bhed in New Home in the middle of a desert." She must have realised he was trying to convince himself just as much as her…

Elodie gave him a wry smile. "Maybe I'm just paranoid…"

"When did you first notice? I've seen it for _years_."

She smacked him round the back of the head half-heartedly. "I just feel like if anything _did_ happen to her, even if it's unrelated – I'd feel responsible because I'm the one who kicked her out of Besaid,"

"You're not _kicking_ out of anywhere. Bayla hasn't even given us a straight answer yet." Tidus reasoned with himself as much as El. "You know Yuna and I would never hold it against you."

"I dunno," she gave him a crooked smile. "You always were good at over reacting, and even if _you _never forgave me, I wouldn't forgive myself. Anyway, I thought you were all not wanting her to go just yet."

Tidus sighed. "She'll fly one day whether I want her to or not. Now is as good a time as any, especially when she'll have a few familiar faces around her now. There's no guarantee she'll have that later on."

"Didn't think of it that way," Elodie said thoughtfully. "Good one. So, you going to talk to her about it today? Vid's going, he told me yesterday."

"So it's a definite?" Tidus queried.

"Whether Wakka likes it or not," she said grimly. "Vidina packed all his things when we left Besaid. He's going all right,"

Tidus grimaced; Wakka was going to have to come to terms with that in a short while. It felt weird, Vidina was like another son to him too; the prospect of loosing his own child to the big wide world was just as bad.

"I'll stick round as long as I can," El said quickly. "I mean, I can give her two weeks of my time, but then I have to go play dignitary for Baralai and collect some samples for Gippal's project. Oh yeah, and something new's cropped up, apparently the whales are coming to Zanarkand this year."

"Really?" that threw him for a moment. The one year this had happened before he hadn't been in Spira, and El had admitted that in this light she hadn't had the heart to go by herself. It was a once in a generation or so event – ranging anywhere from ten to fifty years in between occurrences, although this gap slowly oscillated over the decades. It was almost as big a deal as the stellar event, only since it was happening on Stroma land only they would be allowed to over see the whale's passage. It was a 'New Age' sort of thing, or at least to his understanding from his own home culture – whale song was a healer of the soul, or so they said, but it was probably a psychological thing as well. At least, that's what Elodie insisted it was; and she was a _shaman_.

"Mmhmm," El nodded. "Talking to the Pilanel outside town yesterday. They had a couple of Stroma with them, and that's how I found out. I think Shinra would _love_ to get his mitts on some recorded whale song. Maybe if this thing all blows over or at least simmers down, you'd like to come up this time? Heck, bring the whole family! That would be nice, just at the end of summer so the water's not too cold."

"Unless Bayla gets too attached to the sun and sand," Tidus laughed at the idea.

"She likes trees too much," Elodie said thoughtfully, making him laugh even more. "No," she went on, surprising Tidus. "She'll settle when she finds the moon lilies and the hummingbirds…"

Her eyes went unfocused for a moment, and Tidus hastily shook her out of it. Higher Shaman or not, her ethereal powers had always been hit and miss at best, and if El had a vision it often sent her into dangerous fits. As with most occupations among the Zandal, there were significant downers that often limited what they could do – this was one of them.

"Yikes! Elodie came back to the world and shook her head vigorously to rid herself of what she had been seeing. "Thanks," she played with her braids again as she struggled to clear her mind. "That was going to be a nasty episode, I could feel it…"

Tidus frowned, knowing that when that happened something bad usually followed.

Usually…

It could be anything; a stubbed toe or a broken wrist, or maybe even just a failed test paper. Then there had been rockslides and poisonous snakes, but he clung to the hope that not much could go wrong here in Luca to endanger his family.

"Stop thinking," El snapped at him suddenly. "You'll work yourself up to an ulcer, and I sure as hell ain't cleaning you up."

Tidus was about to retort – stung by her reminder of the time he had spat blood all over himself and Lulu when he was seventeen – when she held up a hand to silence him, eyes fixed on a figure by the waterside, fast approaching with intent in his stride.

"Recognise him?" she said urgently, using the dialect he was most patchy with – some obscure language that had been rarely spoken as a mother tongue for nigh on three centuries.

"No. He's not a northner," he said in Stroma.

Elodie gave him an elbow in the ribs. "_Baka_, he might understand you. Speak Trayma!"

"I _can't_," he snarled.

They broke off their argument when the man stood in front of them, tall and young and rather good looking, with artistically long black hair and a pair of stylish glasses set on his nose at such an angle that allowed him to look over the top, as though he had difficulty focusing between near and far objects. Nothing in his searching gaze, however, suggested impaired vision; merely the tilt to his head reminded Tidus of another Zandal friend who wore glasses and still struggled to focus their gaze. This man clearly had no trouble at all.

His attire was vaguely Al Bhed in that it was made from the same materials and fabric, but was cut differently and in such a plain way that it seemed to emphasise the leanness in his frame, bulked out slightly around his arms and torso. There was a tattoo visible on his collarbone through the open buttons of his plain black shirt, like creeping ivy wrapped around barbed wire.

Tidus felt his hackles rise instantly; barbed wire was frowned upon in Zandal culture, and – quite apart from anything else – this young man's lack of respect for their heritage irritated him.

The man smiled, bowed graciously and made the sign of New Yevon before kneeling before them and making the sign of a peace offering in Stroma. He must be well versed in Zandal lore in that case, since Elodie was the prime example of a Wandering Shaman if you knew what to look for. He also knew he showed clear signs of his own adopted heritage too, and the fact that this man understood them, and yet still sullied the tatts on his body irked Tidus.

"Greetings, Shaman, and Oath Brother of the Stroma." He paused respectfully for the traditional reply.

Even though Tidus usually took his cues from El in these situations, he wouldn't have responded. Luckily, she wasn't feeling charitable either, and sat with her shoulders drawn back slightly and her seat aggressive in subtle tones for those who could read the signs.

When neither of them spoke, he stood up again and bowed politely. "My apologies." He spoke in Spiran. "I did not mean to force my presence upon you,"

"Who are you," Elodie spoke in her mother tongue, commanding as much authority as her station allowed her to. Admittedly, here with just the three of them, that was quite a lot.

"I am a member of the Epoch Division," he began.

Tidus had decided he didn't like the boy already. Now he was getting edgy and wondering when they were going to be gunned down by the unseen eyes he imagined all around them. The fact that Elodie was still calm gave him some comfort, but the unease in his heart wasn't so easily swayed.

"My fellow associates and I were here for the Blitzball Tournament, and a few are staying for the sphere break."

"You are not Zandal," Elodie stated coldly. "You wear the mark of wire barbs in a Zandal manner after the Jahara. You should be ashamed."

Tidus looked at her in smothered surprise as he tried not to give the game away. She was _always_ polite - icily when the occasion called, granted – but she never went out of her way to be rude to a stranger like that. It was different from the playful teasing and mutual abuse their friendship had been built upon for year and years. He couldn't see exactly what it was but just knew something was putting her back up and making her more aggressive. This could only end badly…

"Ah, it is a curse I carry," the man smiled a pained smile…just a little _too_ perfectly for Tidus' liking. "Ivy has significance to me, but when I saw the finished article I realised the man who had done it had given me wire as well."

"You should have been more specific." Elodie said shortly. "Or tried to get it fixed. That is an insult to my people,"

Not that she'd _ever_ had a problem with it before, other than to point and laugh at the unfortunate individual and think no more of it…

"Yes, I know I should have, but it is hard to find someone willing to rectify it for me," he smiled weakly.

"Ask any decent tatt artist. Any man worth his trade would jump high to remedy such an abomination."

"I shall see to it as soon as I can." He bowed again. "May I ask…" he looked up again over his glasses, and Tidus noted the dark, almost black shade of his eyes – a flat, dead looking colour that contradicted the dancing light of intellect flickering within.

"Depends," Elodie snapped back, impatience getting the better of her, and Tidus felt the need to step in soon before she got physically violent. Her knuckles were white against her knees and she was starting to tremble; he could feel the mana swelling within her being.

Slightly taken aback, the man gathered himself before speaking in a controlled, polite and questioning tone, "May I ask, are you Sir Tidus, of the Aurochs?"

Tidus blinked. He hadn't been spoken to directly, since El had led the conversation, and looked to his sister for guidance. She managed to signal 'go ahead' followed by 'if you will' with her fingers, pretending to crack them with no sound. It was their fail-safe when they needed to communicate – and it had saved their lives too many times to disregard or ignore.

"I am," he said boldly. Like he could hide the fact anyway after those games they had played this week…

"I thought so," the man smiled. "My name is Tamaki, and I seek an audience with the Lady Yuna, if I may."

Tidus gently put a hand on Elodie's shoulder before she could tear his throat out. Twenty-two years did nothing to dampen the spirit of any decent guardian, and Elodie had a much deeper emotional investment in Yuna than simply her duty to protect under the direction of Yevon's teachings. It was something that Tidus knew would eventually get her into trouble, though _he_ could hardly talk; if it was an emotional investment to Elodie, Yuna had robbed Tidus of every emotion he'd ever had, and would ever feel again.

The urge to turn the man down and tell him to piss off was strong, but instead an idea sprung to mind.

"You may ask. I don't know if she would accept, though. I will have to ask."

"My thanks," he bowed again.

"Stay here," Tidus had to drag Elodie to her feet and frog march her back to the breakfast table with the others, and then wasted the next five minutes of his life arguing with her.

In the end, Yuna agreed to come and meet with the man, after first making sure Lulu and Wakka were watching her children, and asking Paine to come with them. El hovered at her elbow like a ghost, and it was such a ridiculous and nostalgic moment that Tidus snorted with laughter. His smirk didn't last long with the real pain in his ribs from her angry fist.

When that woman was angry, she took _no_ prisoners.

They walked back to find the man sitting on the wall, studying the moss growing in a crack between two broken bricks. He stood up and bowed deeply – not _too_ much to count as an insult to Elodie, who had whipped her old Guardian Rosette out and pinned it to the sleeve of her shirt, and loomed by Yuna's elbow looking the picture of menace.

"Lady Yuna," he said softly, lowering his head again as a mark of respect before fully straightening up. "It is an honour,"

After that, it was all rather dull as the conversation moved on with Paine heavily steering it while Yuna smiled sweetly and gave her opinion form time to time. This Tamaki character wanted to know her views about a few key issues that were in debate between the Youth League and New Yevon, and about the Al Bhed Research Programme. Tidus stood on Yuna's other side, looking from face to face as people spoke, and listened intently though the urge to let his mind wander and daydream was over whelming.

It didn't last very long, and he was certain Elodie's expression had something to do with it. She didn't exactly glower or sulk, but she made it very clear she was unhappy, and the only remedy for this was for the man to leave as fast as possible. She tensed when he took Yuna's hand and kissed her knuckles, but he did the same to Paine, and politely bowed to Elodie. No one could mistake the look on her face.

"Thank you so much for your time," he said again, backing away slowly instead of turning round. He did eventually when he was at a respectful distance, giving them one last polite smile before blending into a crowd of young Zandal youths who were chanting a victory song loudly.

Elodie seemed to deflate for a moment before taking a deep breath and crafting a mask of serenity that they all saw through.

"The urge to kill was so _very_ high," she drawled.

Tidus sighed and put an arm around Yuna's waist. "He didn't threaten us," he tried feebly to convince her. "He's just oily and icky."

"Not as arrogant as I remember," Paine said thoughtfully, spinning on the ball of her foot and walking back to the hotel lobby. "Maybe he changed tack…but why?"

"I'll tell you _why_," Elodie began, and ranted all the way back to the building, leaving Tidus and Yuna alone.

She gave him a resigned look, and he laughed; she buried his face in his shoulder and sighed. Wordlessly they went back inside after the others, the find Bayla, Yasmine and Vidina missing from the rabble.

"They're helping him pack." Lulu told them when Yuna asked. "The others will leave soon too. Our ferry isn't for another four hours."

"Hey, El!" Gippal shouted across the room, and she dragged herself to him.

"What, oh my illustrious leader?" she said in a sharp voice that dripped sarcasm like a leaky pipe.

"Can you look at the Pancake and Flan Jellyfish for me while you at it with the coral?" he pressed a file folder into her hands, beamed at her, and walked away before she could protest.

"I hate you and everything you stand for. Your one redeeming quality is your wife, and I hope you fall down one of your own excavation holes you mother-"

Tidus tuned her out, but found he had to find something else to focus on. Vidina's departure wasn't such a pleasant thought either…

XOXOX

"Well," Vidina paused, eyes fixed on Bayla's collar, her shirtsleeve – _anywhere_ but her face.

Deka was very quiet, and looked so small as she hunched her shoulders and tried to look inconspicuous. Zuo was glaring at the wall beside him as though he could take out his anger on it, but of course that didn't change anything.

Bayla thought about possibly seeing him again soon on the base, but she would have to gather the courage to say goodbye to her blood family first. There were so many things she wanted to do, so many phrases she had contemplated saying to see him off – something rude and sarcastic like 'watch for the jackals!' or funny like 'keep an eye out for the mirages!' or maybe even deep and meaningful like 'the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step'.

Now faced with the reality, she couldn't think of anything to say at all, not even to say simply 'goodbye' or 'have fun!'

"So," Vidina said, eyes everywhere but her face. "I guess I'd better get goin'. Gotta say bye to the rents,"

Bayla nodded, and watched him walk away to Lulu and Wakka. She and her siblings shuffled after, wanting to at least give him a hug before he went.

"Bye mom," he said, putting his kit bag down on the ground and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

Lulu smiled knowingly, stroking his hair. "Be safe, and have fun." She held him out at arms length and flicked an unruly lock of hair out of his eyes. "But not _too_ much," she reminded him sternly. "You're there to work."

"Sure," he gave her a smile, and she relinquished her hold on him so that he could speak to his father.

Wakka had been stubbornly refusing to acknowledge this coming all week, but now they stood facing each other on the dock side, both trying to get over their disagreement.

Suddenly, Wakka let out a sigh as though he had been holding his breath for a long time, and pulled his only son into a bone-breaking hug.

"Well, guess I knew this was comin'."

"Sorry dad," he mumbled into his father's shoulder. "But I gotta go."

"Yeah, I guess so," Wakka also held him out at arms length – a considerably longer distance than Lulu bearing in mind just how damn tall they both were – and surprised Bayla by giving him a broad smile. "I'm not happy to lose you like this, but I'm proud of you, ya? Don't ever forget that."

Vidina bit his lip, and Bayla knew from experience that he was so close to tears at those words. He just nodded stiffly, patted the hand on his shoulder and turned away before either of them could get more emotional.

Next Bayla's parents said goodbye; Yuna gave him a big hug and made him promise to write to them and wished him all the best of luck. Bayla's dad slapped him jovially on the back, making his knees buckle, and laughed.

"You be careful out there, you hear? I will be disappointed if you go down from a snakebite or something unspectacular. Make us proud, trooper!"

Vidina gave him a sarcastic look. "I'm doing lab work, not fishing for scrap metal,"

"Call it friendly advice," he said, then leant forward to whisper conspiratorially in Vidina's ear, "You never know what Rikku's gonna do next. She likes to spring surprises on you,"

"See ya, Uncle Ti," Vidina had mastered his emotions and now sounded bored.

Tidus grabbed him in a headlock and ruffled his hair. "But seriously, take care of yourself. Remember," he grinned, taking up his favourite sermon stance and holding his arm out, bent at the elbow so that his fist faced the sky. "Work hard!"

Vidina grinned and mirrored his stance. "Play hard!"

He gave him one more quick hug before Vidina went to shake hands with Aunt Paine and Baralai. Bayla watched suspiciously as he went to say goodbye to Yasmine, but he gave her a friendly hug and a polite kiss on the cheek. She blushed, but smiled and wished him luck, before he turned back to Bayla and strode to meet them.

When he stopped they just stared at each other in despair, and then Deka burst into tears on the spot. Tears pricked Bayla's own eyes and she clenched her teeth to keep them at bay. She couldn't cry, she _wouldn't_ cry. Vidina had to go and make his own mistakes now, where he would pick up the pieces and fit them together again when things went wrong, without teachers and parents telling him how to.

Leaving her behind for the first time in her life without her best friend.

Even if she said yes to El's and Rikku's offer, it would still be different; each having different duties and being so far away from home…the thought hurt way more than it should.

Deka flung herself into Vidina's arms and bawled her heart out. "I'll miss you!" she choked as he lifted her off the ground to give her a hug.

"Miss you too, shrimpy." He said, the catch in his voice growing.

Zuo stepped forward once he put her down and Bayla tried to calm her. "See ya round, mate." He said, trying and failing to affect the blasé way Elodie handled these moments with.

Vidina crushed the boy to him. "I'll come back and visit. And I'll write, _loads_. I promise, ya?"

Zuo's façade crumbled and he looked away, mumbling something like, "Yeah, okay…"

Finally, Vidina drew his gaze back to Bayla, but before they could say anything Elodie butted in – she could _strangle_ that woman!

"Here," she looped a chain of red metal over his neck, and patted the circle of three interwoven snakes that were picked out in bright enamel paints on the beautifully wrought metal. "I worked a charm into it while it was forged and painted. It'll protect you from minor fiends and ward against black magics. I hope it won't come to that, but as a friend of the Stroma you are eligible for this talisman. If it _does_ come down to that, I pray it serves you well," she touched her two fingers to her forehead then placed them against his own brow. "Fayth and Spirits watch your every step and blow the wind to you back."

Vidina was speechless, and could only reciprocate her hug when she gave it, giving him a friendly squeeze as she did so.

"T-thanks, Aunty El." He managed to say eventually.

"Dia," she kissed his forehead. "I will see you soon, whatever happens. But until them, light shine on your path,"

It was all very formal and Zandal, and Bayla just wanted to get her goodbyes over with before she started screaming. She couldn't stand waiting for horrible moments like this!

And when Elodie stood aside to let her have her moment, Bayla wished El would take her time more, because she had no idea what to say.

They just stared at each other before looking at their shoes, not wanting to make this any more painful.

"Err…"

"Yeah." Bayla pulled a face, feeling her eyes prickle again.

"So…guess I'll see ya round?" he asked weakly.

"Guess so…" she said, refusing to meet his gaze.

Then, without knowing exactly how or why or who even started it, they flung their arms around each other and held on tight. Bayla was losing her big brother, her best friend, her kindred spirit; she wanted to cry like a little kid, but she bit them back for his sake – she didn't want to make him feel guilty.

"I'll miss you," she said in a constricted voice that wasn't her own.

"Miss you too, Bay." He said, his words strangled in his throat.

"Maybe I'll see you up there soon?" she murmured.

"That'd be great. I'm shit scared, you know," he admitted.

She gave a mad, hysterical bark of laughter that gave her hiccups when she tried to stifle it. They put their hands on each other's shoulders and stood back to take one last good look before parting ways.

"Love you, Bro." She told him.

"Love ya too, Sis," he gave her his best grin, and she smiled back.

Just before he followed Rikku and Gippal, they kissed each other on the cheek, and once the airship was out of sight she excused herself from the proceedings to run back into town where the others couldn't see her tears.

Yasmine found her an hour later, curled up at the foot of a statue of Lord Mi'ihen in a deserted square, dabbing the last of her tears away with her sleeve. She smiled as best she could, and Yasmine didn't say anything other than to offer her lunch. They ended up in a tiny café served by a Zandal man who was quite happy to chat away at them while they ate.

Bayla smiled genuinely when Yasmine put a hand on her arm. "That was painful," she admitted.

"I could see that." Yasmine mused some more over her tea. "You really love him, don't you?"

"He's my big brother," she spread her hands helplessly. "He was there when I first spoke and took my first steps. We played blitz together and we'd go hide in the Chamber of The Fayth when the priests weren't looking. I shared classes with him this year, and we went into the school league for the first time together. We've _always_ done stuff together, its just so weird knowing he's hundreds of miles away from home now…"

Yasmine gave her a sympathetic look. "It'll be okay,"

As Bayla nursed her rooibose tea and watched the Zandal man accost another customer in a friendly manner, she looked at his tatts and thought about Elodie and her offer of taking her to a teacher. She could be a medicine woman or even a shaman like her aunt; she could help people and travel all over the world like she'd always dreamed. Then maybe she'd find that one true person that she would fall in love with and settle down somewhere…just like in all her daydreams.

"Yeah," she said, with a sudden certainty as this fell, washing through her soul like a wave against the breaker. "It will be okay."

XOXOX

The next few days were manic for Elodie, and Yuna did everything she could to help, but her best bet was to stay out of the way. Tidus helped El to conduct her research trips, collect samples, and discuss inventive and elaborate ways to describe her observations. This ended in drunken laughter when they'd had one or three more beers than was wise, and deduced that jellyfish were in actual fact the bastard love child of a flan having a love triangle affair with a sphereomorph and a spider web.

Quite, just, _how_ they had ever gone to that conclusion was beyond Tidus, and what was even more amazing was that Yuna didn't kill them on sight when they staggered back home at four in the morning. He guessed she had come to expect stupidity like this on his part; she had been very icy with him when he finally woke up the next morning until he apologised and offered to take the kids fishing to give her the day off to relax.

It was nearly the end of that week when Bayla approached them about Elodie's offer. The fire was roaring in the Summoner's circle, and most of the village was gathered around celebrating – someone had given birth, and everyone was doting over the new arrival. Deka was sat on a cushion, staring into the eyes of the baby Tnays with wide-eyed wonder while Zuo looked over her shoulder, along with several other kids their age, marvelling in the miracle of new life while the mother watched on, exhausted but happy.

Lulu and Wakka were talking to one of the priests about giving some of Vidina's old books to the temple library, and Elodie had crashed for the night after a disastrous sample gathering exercise that had left her covered in a rash from five separate jellyfish and one pissed off lion fish. And not the namby-pamby size-of-a-small-lemon northern lion fish either; the proper southern bastards that grew larger than a man's head with elongated spines and a foul temper.

Tidus was reclining against an old log, seated on the ground with a beer bottle by his hand; Yuna was curled up against his side, reading a book in the summer evening light, though she would have to give up soon as the sun was setting quickly. Eyes closed, Tidus wasn't aware of Bayla's presence until she cleared her throat.

They both looked up and she sat down awkwardly, staring at his shoelaces. After a moment, Bayla gathered herself and said, "Can I talk to you a sec?"

"Of course," Yuna said, putting her book down and sitting up straight to see her better. "What is it?"

Tidus saw in a brief moment of clarity that the decision had been made, just before Bayla said it out loud, and he didn't know whether he wanted to laugh, cry or scream out loud.

"I wanna go with El to New Home." She said steadily. "To meet her old teacher and learn to be a Medicine Woman. And I'm not doing this just to follow Vidina," she added. "I wanna do something useful with my life, and if I can learn herb lore I can help people. And I think that's a good enough reason to leave Besaid." She looked up at them, as though daring them to contradict her.

"As long as you're sure that's what you want," Yuna said softly, raising a hand to stroke her daughter's hair. "Of course you can go."

"Err, I wasn't really asking permission," Bayla gave them both a sheepish grin. "I kinda sort of made my mind up, I…I was just letting you know that's what I've decided. Sorry," she said, looking away. "I don't mean to be rude, but I've made my mind up, and this is what I wanna do."

She looked to them for approval, and Tidus knew that she was still secretly after their blessing for this enterprise.

"Of course," Yuna said, squeezing her hand and smiling. Then she looked up at Tidus, and he felt his stomach drop out of his torso and lead fill the void left behind.

He shrugged, and said flippantly, "It's your call. As long as you're happy."

"I am," she said firmly, looking him in the eye, and he had to drop his gaze.

It was the relaxing of her expression that nearly undid Tidus – the way her features softened as the tension left her face, and the determined light in his own eyes that watched him from her fair skinned, heart shaped face.

It was like looking at a younger Yuna, and it felt like a splinter in his heart; the familiar gut wrenching sensation that he was failing his duties was over whelming. She was still just a child! Even if she was ready to jump head long into the big wide world he wanted to hold onto her for longer, because she was still his little girl.

But times had changed, and Tidus had no right to stop her going. He knew that, and accepted it, but it didn't make the process any easier to deal with. Maybe Bayla saw that in his expression, but if she did she said nothing about it. Instead, she cleared her throat and said she would go and tell her brother and sister, and left quickly.

When they went to bed that night, Tidus sat up for hours until gone midnight with Yuna talking it through, and he felt no better for it. But she could see that; Yuna always saw through his pretences, and he didn't even try to hide his misery from her, while trying to convey how he knew that Bayla had to do this by herself – with guidance, of course.

After coming to an agreement, at approaching one in the morning, they finally fell asleep, and Tidus awoke to an empty bed with a scribbled note on her pillow telling him she was with Elodie and Lulu, and that the thing they had been discussing was in the top drawer in a purple box.

Heaving himself out of bed, Tidus threw some clothes on in a hurry and rummaged around in the drawer for the errant box. Yuna kept her keepsakes in a chest under the bed, but a few more valuable possessions were hidden around the room in various places, and she liked to keep the more sentimental ones safe from prying eyes.

After Zuo had eaten her pearl earrings as a healthy eighteen month old, she had started keeping things in her underwear draw that was out of reach, and left them there when it became a good deterrent to keep the kids from stealing her jewellery. Not that Yuna's underwear had ever stopped Tidus from rummaging before; they had been together and married for so long he was immune to such trivial female objects. He wasn't even scared of the box of tampons that sometimes didn't get put back in the bathroom cupboard, and that was something that _still_ scared Wakka witless.

After finding the damn thing wrapped in a more lacy bra in a horrid shade of Barbie pink, Tidus left to find Bayla.

XOXOX

Deka was at a friend's house, and Zuo was fishing with Wakka. Her mother was at the market in Kilika with Lulu and Elodie for the day, and her dad was around…somewhere.

This left Bayla free to begin packing her things for the airship that would arrive in a couple of days to take her away from her home for fayth knew how long. It was with a heavy heart but a sound decision that she rolled her things up and put them into a borrowed burgen.

Her clothes had gone in first, wrapped around objects she wanted to take with her of course, she couldn't take absolutely _everything_ with her, so she had decided to hand down most of it to Deka, and get rid of what she didn't need or want to keep anymore. There was a growing pile of things in a cardboard box that she kept rushing back to and grabbing old toys and books from, feeling the tears threaten to engulf her.

A soft knock at the door made Bayla jump out of her skin, but she readjusted herself and said, "Come in,"

Her father opened the door and shuffled inside, something wedged into his pocket. He gave her a small smile, and made no move to enter further. Bayla exhaled heavily, and sank onto her bed that now bore plain white sheets as she had wrapped her favourite bed spread away around her sword. Her dad slowly sat down beside her, and looked around the room. Her desk unit had been stripped bare of its photos and knickknacks, which were rolled up with her socks and underwear for padding on the journey.

"How's the packing going?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Okay, I guess. I'm trying to thin out…" she gestured at the depleted box by the door. "I keep changing my mind about what to get rid of."

"Hmm," was all he said, and they stared at the blank, curved wall of the bedroom, at the empty space where her poster of the Aurochs used to hang.

When the silence became unbearable, Bayla blurted out, "Are you disappointed in me?"

Her father gave her a long, searching look. Then, he raised a hand and swept her ever-growing fringe out of her eyes and looked straight through her.

"_Never_ think that." He said to her gently. "I'm proud of you, and so is your mother. We always have been, and always will be. Just because I'm having a hard time letting you go, it shouldn't stop you. I'll deal with my own problems, so don't worry."

Bayla bit her lip, and found herself telling the truth. "I don't want to go, but…I feel like I have to…"

"Because someone else thinks so?" he said, suddenly sharp and stinging her with his gaze. "Listen, I'm not trying to dissuade you, but you should never do something just cause someone else thinks you should." It was turning into a lecture – the _last_ thing Bayla wanted to hear right now.

"No." she snapped. "I phrased that all wrong. I feel like it's the right thing to do, to go to New Home and learn herb lore. I'm scared about leaving, about going away without you guys to help me out. But I gotta do this," she insisted.

Without warning, her dad's face split into a tremendous grin, and he pulled her into a hug, laughing gently. "You have no idea how much you mean to me," he told her quietly. "I remember before you were born, I was terrified of being a father, and screwing up. I never had stability when I was a kid, and I wanted it so badly for you. And when you were born…" he smiled at her, stroking her hair, and Bayla leant against his hand automatically. "It was the most easy thing in the world. I know sort of how you feel at the moment, but you'll be fine once you get there. We've given you all we can, and now its time to take that with you."

Bayla wanted to cry, but she kept her mouth shut tight. If she lost it, he'd lose it, and mom would come home to find them flooding the house with their tears.

"Dad…?" she said slowly once she'd squashed her emotions down. "I just – I mean…just thanks." She didn't know how else to say it. "I've been lucky to have you and mom, and I don't mean just because of who you are. I've had a great childhood, and I love you so much, but…I feel like I'm a chocobo in a china store, and I can't stretch my wings any further in case I knock something over. And going to Bikanel…it just feels _right_. I can't explain it. I just hope you understand, and understand that I'm grateful."

"Seeing you succeed in life," he smiled at her before kissing her temple. "Is reward enough, just to know I did something right in the world."

"Dad! You did _loads_ of good for Spira," she protested, but he silenced her.

"And I've done a lot of stupid and dangerous things too. Sadly, you've got my nonconformist streak, and I just know the sort of trouble you could get into without guidance."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed.

"And because I know you so well, I just hope that you'll remember my lessons when you go prancing off into the unknown. I'll have failed as a parent if you do anything stupid."

"I'm legally an adult," she sulked. "I can take care of myself."

"Drakes," he mused to himself, arm around her shoulder while she rested her chin on his collarbone, feeling his breathing and pulse at a slow resting pace – steady and soothing. "Grow'em big out in Sanubia."

Bayla tried to pretend he wasn't thinking about the fiends of the desert, and sighed heavily when she realised the time she was wasting that she could be packing. She stood up and left her father on the bed, walking over to the door and taking her things off the hooks there. Beside Deka's coats, Bayla took down her plastic sheet raincoat, her favourite hooded jumper, and the beautifully made Zandal coat Elodie had given her last year.

It was her favourite outdoor coat that she wore when they went to Djose – a considerably cooler clime than she was used to here in Besaid. It was knitted from dyed sheep's wool, in two tones of blue; a beautiful deep shade like the sky after the red seeped down the horizon after the setting sun, and the other the bright blue of the sky. The pattern resembled waves around the arms, and had intricate fish jumping in pairs on the front, with a large motif of the glyph representing peace in Stroma, as well as dyed chocobo feathers woven cunningly into the braids that hung down over the chest from the swirly patterned hood. The zip was placed just so, making it hidden from view altogether so that it looked like a traditional jumper when zipped up.

"The desert is cold at night, right?" she verified, stroking the feathers. She looked up in time to se her dad pull a face.

"Past experience. Take a jacket with you," he advised.

As she folded the coat away, he stood up and pulled her back to the bed where they remained standing, and he pulled the thing from his pocket she had noticed earlier.

"Your mother and I have been talking." He said finally. "And we want to give you something before you go. And I want you to have it now."

"What is it?" she asked. "If it's money, it's fine dad. I don't need any,"

He smiled. "Just reminded me, we'll have to give you some cash." He ignored her scowl. "No, we wanted to give you this," and with that he slid the lid off the little purple box and dipped his fingers inside. When he raised his hand, an exquisite necklace dangled from his fingers.

Bayla gasped.

Gently, he took her hand away from her mouth and deposited it in her palm so she could have a closer look.

It was absolutely _gorgeous_, beautiful, you name it and this necklace probably embodied that word. A very fine silver chain connected to the two wing tips of a starling bird made from silver, which was covered in tiny semi-precious stones and mother of pearl to make it look so life like she almost expected it to fly from her hand, but it sat there sparkling in the sunlight and cool against her skin from its stay in the box for so long. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"Oh…_dad_," she breathed, tracing the edge of the wings with her finger, over whelmed.

"This was your grandmother's," her dad explained. "You know the Al Bhed don't always give each other engagement rings. Lord Braska had this made for his wife before they were married. Your mother inherited it after she died, and now its yours."

"Dad, I…" what could she say, or do? "I can't…its too…I just can't," she tried to give it back to him, but instead he slid it from her hands and fastened it about her neck. "It's too much," she protested feebly, playing with the starling once it was hung round her throat.

Bayla's father held her at arms length for a moment, before cupping her face with his hands, and she felt the tears bubble up again, but she kept them at bay. She had to close her eyes because his smile would tear down what little defences she had left.

"You're so beautiful, like your mother. I see so much of her in you, every time I look at you."

"Cut the mushy stuff out, dad." She tried to sound teasing, but it sounded like a sulk. "You'll set us both off,"

She got a quick hug, and then he backed off. "I'll see you later," he promised before he left the room.

Bayla went back to sorting her possessions, and this time she took everything she wanted to keep but couldn't take with her in a chest. After scrabbling round of the key between the sheets and her mattress, she locked the chest and shoved it under the bed. Deka would make sure nothing happened to it.

XOXOX

Raelyn shivered as he walked into the underground room behind the Chief's son, staring at the flaming torches in metal brackets that reminded him of witch hunts and painful death by fire, rather than the more cheery campfire scenario of his childhood that seemed so far away. He scuttled in the man's shadow, trying not to attract attention from the huge men that wore odd sort of helmets with wrought metal masks over them that obscured the face, neck and shoulders. He'd heard terrible rumours about what was under those masks, and he was sure the reality would be ten times more frightening if he really found out firsthand.

After the mission in Bevelle, Raelyn had been promoted, and he had been thrilled at first because he thought he would get more pay and a better care package. But instead, he was forbidden to see his old teammates, and had to do Tamaki's bidding, and swan round after him with these guys breathing down his neck. It was _horrible_.

They reached a door right at the end of the long, wide corridor, and Tamaki snapped his fingers. Raelyn ran forward to open it for him, remembering painfully the last time he had not done this. His ribs twinge painfully in a relatively soft echo of the agony he had endured.

"Hello, Father." Tamaki said brightly, walking forward and leaning against the desk before him.

Raelyn hated this room too; all manner of nasty looking implements against the closest wall, while the one behind the huge mahogany desk where their Chief sat had lots of shelves holding jars with pickled animals in them. The other walls, thankfully, were covered in books – although that was little comfort when you read the titles. Raelyn, like most people, spoke a little bit of the common Zandal language known as _Allphah_,and it didn't take a linguistic genius to understand the gist of those headings.

"My Son. How are you?" the man in the chair was aging with a certain amount of grace, but the ugly cross-shaped scars on his chin were severely off putting. He was slender and tall, with grey-flecked hair and the most curious – bright _red_ eyes.

Raelyn knew a few people whose eyes were a sort of burgundy colour, or dark brown with a tint of red around the iris, but he'd never met someone with eyes as red as _that_ before.

"Sit," the Chief instructed, and Raelyn fell into a chair in the middle of the floor.

Tamaki perched himself on the edge of the desk like a child misbehaving in school, and swung one of his legs back and forth, smiling benignly.

"So, care to give me the full picture now? I have made myself known to the good Lady Yuna."

"Ah, good work my boy." The Chief stood up and started pacing around the room in a seemingly random and meaningless pattern. "As you know, the lunar calendar is important this year. The Pilanel will be ushering in a new age of astrology."

"Yes, I know that. But does it have to do with us? With the Division,"

Raelyn held his breath; this was vitally important, he could _feel_ it.

"What many _don't_ know," the Chief went on in a soft, well-oiled voice that made the hair on Raelyn's neck stand on end. "Is that it is the next part of the prophecy. Do you know the full of it?"

"No,"

"I shall read you the Spiran translation. It would summon pyreflies and all manner of nasty things if I spoke in Zandal," he took a green leather bound tome from a shelf, flicked through the pages, and began reciting. "When the last soul gives their life to the fayth, the sands start running and wait for the stars to fall into place above so that the fayth of the spirits may awaken once more. The Day Dreamer alone may unlock this gate and the path to the stairwell, and shall lead the way to the chamber within. Only they may remove the Chalice of Life from its podium and call forth the powers to render their enemies asunder."

Raelyn blinked, and so did Tamaki.

"Do we know who that is?" he asked slowly. "I thought we were after a Magick Crystal, not a Holy Grail. And who or what is the day dreamer?"

The Chief smiled, and Raelyn cringed, wishing with all his heart he wasn't here.

"I don't know yet, but I will soon find out. I have a few likely candidates," he put the book down and went back to his desk. "In this file as those people who I think have a link to this. Of course, only one of them is in the end."

"And what do these people all have in common that makes them suspects?" Tamaki flicked through the pages lazily with a flick of his wrist.

"They all have no history. Not in Spira, at least. These are the Dreams of the Fayth from over the ages, and a handful of people who either lost their memory from the toxin, or ran away from home and created new identities for themselves."

"The Fayth…I might have known,"

Raelyn tried hard not to frown in confusion. The Fayth? They had lost their power twenty-two years ago, who cared about Yevon and the summoners? They had no sway over people anymore.

"Wait a moment," Tamaki stopped, and tapped a picture that was just out of Raelyn's vision. "I know this man,"

"Oh do you?" the Chief leant over to check. "Yes, his father is in here too."

"Sir Jechet," Tamaki said, and the name stirred in Raelyn's memory. "But he was taken to be Lord Braska's final aeon. He had no family!"

"He did in the Fayth of Zanderkand." The Chief said.

Didn't he mean _Zanarkand_? Raelyn was getting more and more lost, and ever more uneasy.

"Tidus is his name," the Chief went on. "For some reason _he_ still walks among us, although by all rights he should have been banished to the Farplane."

"But it's stable enough to contain unsent outside its boarders, since the Guado maintain the breach between the worlds." Tamaki mused, stroking his chin. "What does that make Sir Tidus?"

"Ah, he is a very special case," the file was taken from him and put in a drawer of the desk. The Chief sat down in his chair and folded his hands in his lap like an old Yevon priest. "Like I said before, by right he should not exist – the Fayth created him and thousands of others to uphold the memory of the deceased, and so he should have faded with the Fayth back to the Farplane. But he didn't,"

"Clearly, I saw this man in Luca. He's a blitzer," Tamaki shot Raelyn a sudden look that made the blood drain from his face, before looking back to his father while the poor man tried to recover.

"He is also Lady Yuna's husband."

"Ah, I guessed at that. What is the nature of their relationship? A high-ranking woman like her, it may have been political. Or a ploy," he added as an after thought.

"I believe she is in love with him, and that emotion bound him to this world. While life fades away to the beyond, the hearts of those left behind beat for their loss. I believe Lady Yuna was most distressed when she discovered this for herself. And, as she fought so valiantly to defend Spira once more against the Colossus, they granted her a wish – like a genie, if you will."

"Ah, I understand now." Tamaki nodded.

Raelyn sure as hell didn't.

"So she brought him back on a whim and a prayer, then?"

"As you will. It was a reward of sorts for her hard work, and he returned to the land of the living with flesh and blood and _powerful _emotions. I doubt he understands any of this. As you saw in this file, he was adopted by a Zandal Shaman to give him a background that was written in New Yevon's census over twenty years ago. According to these papers," he shuffled them around his desk and handed a copy to his son. "Tidus à Stroma was born on Stroma turf in Zanarkand, nearly forty years ago now. His full Adult Zandal name is Tsu-tey Valarduh Oaklahnd Ne'er Lastra Mahn Jechetsson Stroma."

"Interesting choice," Tamaki said thoughtfully.

Raelyn didn't know enough to understand the meanings of those names, but he understood the significance all right. To be fully recognised as an adult, every Zandal was given a task they had to complete, and this proved their worth as a person, and gave them to right to the ceremonial tattoos that they wore on their skin. It was often how adopted people entered the tribes, since in the eyes of the Lunar Spirits; all were equal with the same fighting chance. At least, that was Raelyn's understanding. In Spiran culture, it was still a case of some being more equal than others.

"Just refresh my memory – my Zandal is not so good – what does Valarduh mean again?"

"In Spiran his name would be Sun-on-the-waves Protection Honourable-man Oath-Dreamer of the Stroma. Jechetsson honours his father, of course. They do like to complicate things, don't they? But yes, the Shaman who adopted him made Sir Tidus her oath brother and chose his given name."

"Who is this woman? I may have seen her as well,"

"Her use name is Elodie, but her adult name is J-airai. The Shaman hide their other names well, so all I know is her first, but she is a Stroma as well. That is how she managed to twist the census questions in her favour and claim he was born on the land of her ancestors."

"Interesting," Tamaki drummed his fingers on the woodwork. "But is he the _day_ dreamer? Unless it's his name – _sun on the waves_."

The Chief shook his head. "No, that name refers to his disposition. And you saw yourself his physical appearance; it is a play on words, as the Zandal like to be cryptic like that. No, he is influenced by the moon."

Tamaki frowned deeply. "The Moon Energy is a female chakra. Men are dominated by the Sun Energy,"

"Ah, but he has been warped. His perceived love of his woman bent his Chi energy. And it is only at the lunar midnight that the gate can be opened, so it logically follows that this man has a dominant Moon Energy."

Tamaki looked unconvinced. "Do we know what their children are like? Perhaps the daydream refers to one of them. I believe Sir Tidus has two daughters,"

"Yes, but they are young. And weak. They have not the physical strength for the task. Now, a blitzball player!" The Chief stood up and stared wondering around the room again in a meaningless pattern. "And a Guardian to boot! Why, he has extraordinary strength and physical endurance."

Raelyn kept his eyes on the floor, and his mouth shut. He heard footsteps towards the wall hanging with weapons, and the ring of steel on steel. He gulped and chanced a glance up, and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw the simple, beautiful, deadly blade in the Chief's hand.

The man began walking round the room in silence, and Tamaki stilled as he watched. Raelyn felt all the hairs on his body stand to attention as one, and he began to tremble despite himself. It was a psychological trick I guessed, but all the same he found that his breathing was difficult – the air just wouldn't get past his lips to his lungs easily, and he struggled to maintain control of his panic.

"You have been a good lackey," said a soft voice right in his ear, making him jump. "But you are no longer of use to us in this form. I'm terribly sorry, my boy."

A hand like a steel vice clamped down on his shoulder and Raelyn tried to bolt. Tamaki sprang up so fast he reeled backwards to avoid the collision, and something seemed to slide into his back with relative ease, even before the Chief's son grabbed his shoulder to keep him still.

Raelyn took a sharp breath, looking straight ahead, acutely aware of how he could feel something lodged inside his ribcage, and of how his heart rate seemed to have spiralled out of control.

"Tamaki, be a good boy and get me a vial. We need the blood,"

Was this how it felt to be in shock? He knew a dagger was nestled inside an artery of his heart, and the moment the blade was pulled out he would die of blood loss. His breaths came in short, shallow, barely audible gasps, and then something cool and hard was pressed against his back, and he heard Tamaki speak from a long way off through the haze that settled over Raelyn's vision.

"Here you go."

"Thank you, son."

There was a wet sound like raw steak being cut, and Raelyn slumped in the chair as his world went black. The pain was minimal for some reason, or maybe they had cast a spell to make it less painful.

The little black spots in his field of white started exploding in a shower of red and green sparks, and then the darkness swallowed him whole as his heart betrayed him and pumped his life's blood out of his body.

XOXOX

"Father," Tamaki said disdainfully, watching the pool spread across the floor with disgust. "Now we have to clean the mess up,"

The ley lines he had walked earlier before the kill had evoked the mana that would preserve the chi energy of the foolish man, and was now collected in the glass vial his father held.

"I'll get the maid in soon enough. Take this and place it with the rest." His father went back to his chair and desk without a second glance at the staring corpse on the floor.

"So, when we find the Day Dreamer," Tamaki rolled the vial around in his hands, feeling the warmth of the blood. "What do we do with them afterwards?"

"Add them to the collection. I still believe Tidus Jechetsson à Stroma is the one we are looking for."

"I disagree," Tamaki said, pocketing the vial. "I think it is one of his daughters. I refuse to believe he has no Sun Energy in him."

"You have a lot to learn my son," his father said, absently wiping down his favourite dagger.

Looking over at the dead body on the floor, Tamaki wrinkled his nose. Subtlety was an art his father had yet to perfect.

"And when I do, I will prove you wrong."

XOXOX

Ec dryd dycdo, Sicel? – Is that tasty, Sicel?

_Oayr! _– Yeah!

_Fa mega pnayt_ – We like bread


	8. Arrival

**AN: next update may take a while, needing to slow down production process and think long and hard about the plot xD that and I'm sort of busy doing other stuff, so yeah…**

Blackout444,** I owe you a plate of virtual cookies ;) thanks for your reviews! :D**

_**Arrival**_

It had to come, sooner or later, and Yuna knew that sooner would be better than later – less time to wind herself up over it.

They stood on the beach, watching Elodie and Tidus carry her jungle equipment into the cargo hold of the standard issue airship that had come to take her to New Home. Bayla's belongings had also been loaded on too, and as Tidus and El came back down the ramp, he kept his eyes firmly on the sand, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

Truthfully, Yuna did feel sad about Bayla leaving, but at the same time she was excited for her – _fayth_ knew what trouble she and Vidina would cause once they got together, and there were so many new things for her to do and explore. The analogy Tidus had reported back to her of being a chocobo in a china shop had been a very good one indeed, and Yuna was sure that Bayla would find her feet quickly. There was no denying her parentage, and given that fact, she knew her daughter would be just fine.

It was just a case of her being able to actually leave Besaid first, if she didn't breakdown completely and beg them to make her stay.

As Tidus and Elodie came to stand beside Yuna, they all turned to Bayla (Tidus staring at the ground still) and waited for a moment. She didn't know if Bayla would give a meaningful farewell speech, laugh it off with humour or just burst into tears – from the deadpan look on her face, it could be any number of different reactions.

Thankfully, El cut the silence before it grew to loud by clapping her hands together and saying loudly, "Well! It's was great seeing you guys again," she grabbed Tidus in a hug, before letting him go to grab Yuna. "I won't be down this way for quite a while, Gippal sent me a message last night saying I have to go look at this fungus growing in Macalania – woot. And then Baralai's got a mini project for me to work on," she proceeded to hug everyone else while she chatted, which eased some of the tension until she had gone to everyone, and returned to Bayla. El patted her shoulder and leant forward, speaking softly. "I'll give you a minute." Then she strode off to the airship and waited on the gangplank.

Bayla stared at the sand for a moment before looking up and meeting her mothers eyes. Yuna could tell she was scared – excited, but scared. Before the silence could become too painful Yuna stepped forward and enveloped her in a hug.

"Be good for your Aunt Rikku," she said with a smile as Bayla reciprocated. "And don't give El _too_ much trouble,"

"I promise," Bayla murmured.

Yuna stood back, cupping her face in her hands and smiling at her. Bayla managed a small smile of her own, and turned her attention to Zuo and Deka who crowded forth to say goodbye. As with seeing Vidina off, Deka cried – but this time she managed to stifle them into a noisy hiccup. Bayla hugged her little sister fiercely before rounding on her brother. Zuo's scowl was probably there to try and cover up his own feelings, but he gave her a stiff, robotic hug all the same.

"I'll miss you," he said in strangled tones, giving himself away.

Bayla nodded mutely, not looking at him as they broke apart. She must have been close to tears herself after that admission of affection from Zuo.

Lulu said nothing, just offered one last hug and stroked her hair – Yuna could remember a time when Lu would do that for her, offering wordless comfort. Bayla was then swept into a bone breaking hug by Wakka, who said something gruff about taking care of herself and going easy on Vidina for him. She just nodded and said, "Thanks. See you," and turned to face Tidus.

This was going to be the hardest part, for both of them; it wouldn't be fair to say that Tidus loved Bayla more than he loved the twins, but there was a special relationship between them that wasn't quite the same as the others. She was, after all, his firstborn – the first hurdle in his role as a parent – and despite the spats they had and the one-upmanship between them, it was really Bayla who went out of her way more than her brother and sister to do things with her dad. It was hard to say who was dreading this parting more…

They stared at each other for a moment, before Tidus cleared his throat and dropped his gaze. "You be a good girl for me, won't you?"

"Yeah,"

Neither of them moved for a moment, and then they both lunged at the same time. Bayla tried to hide herself in his shoulder, and Tidus buried his nose in her hair, neither saying anything. For a while they just stood there, until he reluctantly let her go, and nudged her towards the waiting airship.

"Go on, you'd better get going if you wanna arrive before dark." He said gruffly.

Bayla made to turn away but flung herself back into his arms one more time, and he nearly toppled over in surprise.

"I love you, daddy."

"Love you, too."

She let go of him and made for the gangplank without looking back, as though she were worried she would change her mind. Yuna took Tidus' hand in hers, giving it a comforting squeeze as they watched their eldest daughter walk away. He squeezed back, but said nothing. He obviously didn't trust his voice.

Deka ran forward a few feet before coming to a half and half jumping on the spot, waving her arms. "Bye! We'll see you soon! Remember to write!"

Bayla paused at the top of the gangplank and turned to look at them, then she gave them a brave smile and waved back. "I promise!"

Elodie gave them a cheerful wave as she walked to one side and hit her fist against a button out of sight on the wall, making the platform lift with a loud screech of under oiled metal. "Later gaters!" she yelled over the racket, and a moment later the hatch was closed, blocking them from view.

A minute or so later, the airship whirred into life – it rose slowly into the air, hovering above the water in the bay, before it took off into the sky and disappeared into the horizon.

Yuna looked up to see a single tear in Tidus' cheek, which he wiped away impatiently. He sensed her gaze and looked down at her, before giving her a soft smile.

"She'll be okay,"

Yuna smiled back, and was about to say something, but Deka threw herself at them, really bawling her eyes out this time in misery. It startled them both, and any other tears Tidus may have shed were instantly forgotten as they tried to console Deka.

Zuo was staring out to sea as this went on, jaw screwed tightly shut as he fought to block out Deka's sobs, apparently trying to bottle up his own tears. Tidus gently handed Deka to Yuna before walking over to his son, slapping him on the back as he went.

"Don't worry," he managed to make his tone cheerful. "In a few years time, we'll be sobbing over _your_ departure."

"You're making it sound like she's dead!" Zuo exploded angrily. "She's not _departed_. She's gone to a desert island in the middle of nowhere in the west ocean! Big whoop!" he glowered up at Tidus, before grabbing him by the waist and hiding his face in his chest. "Who cares!" he said mutinously, trying to cover up his melancholy.

Tidus exchanged a look with Yuna, and they both smiled. Apparently, all three of their children had inherited his over active emotions. Cheering Zuo and Deka up would distract Tidus from his own depressing musings for a bit, but she knew there were likely to be more tears before too long.

The question was, of course, whose tears would they be?

XOXOX

"Wake up, Dia."

Bayla jerked in her sleep, and struggled to drag herself into the waking world that was far too noisy and kept shaking beneath her. Elodie was nearby somewhere, but in the gloom of the cabin, she couldn't tell where.

"Say wha…?" she mumbled, trying to get her eyes to open and get her bearings.

Elodie had advised that she get some sleep, which Bayla had done, but now she didn't want to wake up, and she wished El would just piss off… They must have been flying for a while now, but she had no idea for how long or how much further it was to New Home.

"Nearly there," El told her, and something hot was pressed into her hands, that smelled like her favourite tea. "Drink this. I'll be up in the cockpit when you're fully awake," and her footsteps disappeared into the sounds of the engine groaning somewhere below them.

Bayla slowly came back to reality (drinking the tea really helped) and she checked her belongings yet again to make sure she had everything. Burgen, chest, guitar, satchel…it all appeared to be in order. Once that was done, she scuttled her way out of the cabin – a tiny room that was really more like an extra large cleaning cupboard – and into the cramped hallway beyond where the engines sounded even louder than before. This rig was the standard supply ship for long haul research projects like the ongoing one in the jungle, so it was hardly glamorous – or indeed _comfortable_. Everything was the barest minimum they could get away with, without compromising safety, so they could carry the maximum amount of cargo. This meant that the bare pipes and thin walls created the most horrendous amount of noise.

It made Bayla smile when she thought about her father's thoughts on craft like these. "I'd rather sit and listen to a sin spawn caterwaul all night!" which according to Rikku, was something they had actually done once before. When asked about it, Elodie would grimace and ask not to be reminded of the experience. Apparently, some things were best left unsaid. Bayla's mother just didn't talk about it at all – period.

At the top of the narrow rickety stairs was the cockpit, where Elodie was chatting away happily with the Zandal pilot. He had shaved patterns into his hair on the right side of his head, cropped closely to the scalp, while the left side of his head had shoulder length hair of green and brown dyed braids in the Al Bhed style. He turned to smile at her warmly as she staggered into the room, and she saw he had eyes that were two different shades of green, and she deduced he must be part Al Bhed somewhere along the line. True, the Psyches tatt on his left forearm after the Zandal's stylised fashion was another dead give away. Either that or he had married into an old Zandal family. Or maybe he simply liked the design.

"Hey, you alright?" Elodie asked.

"Yeah, sleepy," she rubbed her eyes and sat down in the other chair, gripping the arm rests as the ship lurched.

"Storm's ahead." The pilot said in a thick accent that seemed to be part Al Bhed, and part Bevelle oddly enough. The vowels had a cultured air to them, while the ends of his words seemed to tail off into a colloquial Al Bhed brogue. "We'll be landing just in time. Guess I'll be stranded here for a bit,"

"It's not storm season, is it?" Elodie asked, frowning at the premature darkening of the sky ahead of them.

"Not for rain. In the desert, rain and storm go hand in hand. This is a lectro-mag storm. They're rare, and a real pain in the arse." His accent _almost_ sounded Stroma for a moment. "Beautiful to look at, but very dangerous. If we make it in time, we'll just miss it, but all aircraft are going to be grounded in about two hours from now."

"How long till we get there?" Bayla asked out loud.

"About half an hour, if we're lucky." He said nonchalantly. "It'll be a close call if this wind keeps hampering us, but that should settle as we get closer."

"Are mag storms as bad as our illustrious leader claims?" Elodie drawled, tapping her armrest in boredom. "Gip's always banging on about the importance of not taking risks in storms. He's a _nightmare_ when we get sent to the Thunder Plains.

"Electromagnetic storms don't have any rain and very little wind. They scare a lot of people because of the silence."

Bayla gulped, wishing in vain that she was tucked up in bed at home with a cup of hot chocolate and Deka for company. She liked storms; she and Vidina used to sit at the entrance to the temple as kids and watch the monsoons come crashing down around them. It was the heavy sound of the rain and the gentle rumble of thunder that she found soothing, especially when she sat with her parents and watched through the window. The idea of lightning, without the rest of the loud and raucous sounds that went with a storm, was a creepy notion.

"Never seen one myself," Elodie mused thoughtfully, watching the storm cloud gather ahead of them. "This'll be interesting,"

"Yup. Pretty dull, to be honest. Everything's going to be in lock down. _Again_," the pilot groaned. "First a sand storm, now _this_ bollocks…"

"Could be worse," El said mildly. "Least we don't have sin spawn crawling up our butts. I'd have a fit,"

Bayla stifled a snort of laughter. It didn't take much to make Aunt El have a fit, apparently…just introduce her to a couple of clam land scorpions and you had entertainment for the next six hours, provided you didn't get stung yourself.

"Oh yeah," the pilot said. "You were a guardian, weren't you?"

"Yup. To the best Summoner of all time," she winked at Bayla, who grinned back despite her unease.

"Sure," the pilot laughed. "They all say that about their summoner, yes?"

Elodie gave him a smile, and then her gaze flickered to Bayla and she pulled a face. "Yes, but I have real reason for my bragging." She insisted.

The pilot laughed, and left it at that.

It was actually twenty minutes later that they landed, with the ground crew running around like maniacs and dragging their belongings into a warehouse with great haste and chivvying them along as the black clouds rolled towards them ever more quickly. Bayla wanted to see the desert, in all the sandy, blinding glory her parents had described to her – but it was too dark to see beyond the high chain link fences, and the workers were trying to get them indoors as quickly as possible. It was another hour until the danger would hit, and they wanted all the necessary work down _now_ to save them from repairing any damage that may occur later.

Everything happened so quickly, it was hard to get her bearings; Bayla rushed with Elodie to greet Rikku and Gippal, who were both genuinely pleased to see them again so soon. Rikku fussed over the bags under her eyes and her constant yawning, and so took charge of her immediately. Elodie gave her a quick hug and promised to find her later before Gippal swept her away to her 'new office' which made her shriek for joy as they bobbed along the next corridor, demanding enthusiastically, "Do I get a swivel chair? _Yes_!"

"Well now," Aunt Rikku said, grabbing Bayla's bags and handing a couple to her before she kicked the doors open and went outside.

Bayla gasped – it was even darker now than it had been when they landed!

"I know, these happen a couple of times a year, and we're over due. Pretty freaky, huh?"

"And there's really no rain?" Bayla asked as they traipsed across the flat rocky ground towards another set of buildings.

"No. I guess that's a bit weird for you, isn't it? Besaid's a monsoon hotspot."

Bayla squinted into the distance as Rikku fumbled for her access cards, and yelped when she saw a brilliant arc of purple like streak across the sky a matter of miles away from the base.

Rikku looked up, just missing the lightening, and Bayla described it to her. "Odd, it's normally blue. Anyway, _this_," she kicked the door open and heaved the burgen in before her. "Is the new student quarters. We've got a few other educational things going on, so you'll all be in this building, and the other old warehouse over there," she jabbed her thumb at the building in question across the small courtyard of stone blocks. After she slammed the door shut, she grabbed the bags again and led the way up the stairs. "Boys are having _that_ side of the building," Rikku explained as they lugged their way up the stairwell. "And _this_ side is for the girls. There's a bathroom and shower room on every floor, but you'll have to share it."

"_How_ many floors, exactly?" Bayla asked, out of breath already.

"Just three. First floor's got a lounge, a games room, and a small sports facility in the basement. That's on the boy's side, and the girls have the dinning room, kitchen and Sphere room. Of course, you share the first floor with them." she reminded Bayla sternly, and she smiled to herself while her aunt fished in her pocket for her keys.

"How long will the storm last?"

"It won't be safe to be outside until about midmorning. Only when the sky's completely clear,"

"Okay. There's food and stuff downstairs, right?"

"Only base ingredients. You'll have to cook, I'm afraid. I have to go back in a minute; Gippal wants me on hand to look after the cresh."

"Oh," Bayla gulped. She was a disaster at cooking. Baking, she could deal with – she and her dad made _the_ best chocolate sponge cake in the world. But cooking a meal? The most she was allowed to do was chop vegetables at home.

"It's alright," Rikku gave her a one armed hug. "Vidina's in this building too! He's out at the moment, and he may get holed up because of the storm, but if he's back in time he'll bunk here for the night. There's a couple of other guys in here at the moment – it's gonna get pretty crowded in a couple of weeks, though. Enjoy the peace while you can!"

The peace and quiet of this storm was going to freak her out more than being so far away from home, but Bayla didn't say so. At the end of the corridor they stopped at on the third flight of stairs, _right _at the end of a long line of doors, Rikku stopped and unlocked the door. Bayla's names was printed neatly on a wooden plaque in black ink, and it even had her Zandal family written on it too – it brought a smile to her face when she looked at the little carving of a moon lily beside the letters.

"Okay, so this is your room," Rikku went inside and switched the light on. "The power may go out this evening, so there's a stash of candles in the desk and a lighter over there. I would stay and help you unpack, but I have to get back,"

"That's okay," Bayla managed a smile, and Rikku gave her a quick hug.

"Here," she pressed something into her hands. "It's a communicator. I'm on channel 3-7-0. Don't hesitate to call if you need something, only when the storm hits I won't be able to come over. Okay?"

"Yeah, alright."

"I hate to dump you like this your first night here, but it's just bad timing with the storm. You're free to anything in the kitchen," just then her own communicator started buzzing. "Gotta go! I'll see you tomorrow," and with that she rushed from the room, speaking rapidly in Al Bhed to the panicked voice on the other end of the line.

Bayla sank onto the bare mattress of her new bed and looked around the room. It was much bigger than her bedroom, and square; the bed was larger, almost a double really, and she was glad that she always had over sized duvets that she piled around herself at home, because they would probably only just fit on this bed. It was situated against the wall directly right from the door as you walked in, right up in the corner.

There was also a _huge_ wardrobe that she and Deka could both stand in quite comfortably with plenty of room to spare, set in the diagonally opposite corner of the room; the desk on the other side in the middle of the wall was also massive, with a more sophisticated computer than El's set up with a sliding drawer underneath that had a flat keyboard on it. There was a chest of drawers in the remaining corner of the far wall with a mirror bolted onto the wall above it, and a small washbasin in the corner beside a table with a sort of machina kettle beside it.

The window was shrouded with plain cream coloured curtains that reached the floor, and when Bayla went to pull them back she found that she had a large balcony with floor length glass doors that opened in sections so that she could use the whole as a door and the top half as a window. She unlocked it and stepped outside into the gathering darkness, and saw that only a few other rooms had balconies like hers.

Feeling pleased, she went back inside and started unpacking. Plain Zandal style jeans and shorts went into the bottom drawer, along with her many t-shirts and the few jumpers she owned. Then she sorted out different sets of pyjamas, before finally filling the two smaller drawers at the top with her underwear, swimming suits and socks.

Moving onto the wardrobe was daunting; for one thing, she only owned three dresses, and one skirt that wasn't part of her old uniform. The scariest thing about it was that it was a head taller than she was – totally different from the cramped space she shared with her little sister at home. The few really nice tops she owned, a trouser suit compilation, and a couple of coats went in there along with the dresses and skirt. Her shoes were just chucked in at the bottom in a heap, being too twitchy to make them look neat.

Besaid was sprawling and chaotic in its structure – not neat and boxed in like here. _Nature didn't intend straight lines, that's why mankind had invented the ruler. _That's what Lulu would say.

The few objects Bayla had brought with her for pure sentimental value were placed on the shelves around the desk, including a glass vase in blue and green, a stone paperweight made to look like a shoopuff that Zuo had made for her when he was eight, a delicate painting of a flower Deka had made in class and given to her when the coursework had been marked, and a handful of little knickknacks Elodie had brought home for her over the years. Everything from dyed chocobo feathers to seashells with symbols scraped into them to make the iridescent colours show.

Next order of business was the bed, and as she had predicted the bedding only just covered it. It was a real shame because it was Bayla's favourite bedspread, in a series of blue hues that flowed from dark to light in a random tie-dye pattern. The pillow at least was up to scratch, and after Bayla had forced the bedding down and thrown a patchwork blanket over the top, she carefully set her favourite cuddly toy on top of the pillow. It was as old as she was, and her dad had asked a friend in the Stroma to make it for him, and they'd had it refurbished over the years as it received more love and abuse.

Pent was a stuffed chocobo, fetched with real yellow feathers and dark brown buttons for eyes. She usually spent her days under Bayla's pillow in her room where she lay in relative safety. Bayla had cried her eyes out when she thought she'd torn the poor thing beyond repair, and so since she was eleven Pent had never left the bed, let alone the house. Now, she sat there looking up at Bayla with button eyes and a smile in her felt beak.

It made her feel much better.

After toying with the idea of going back downstairs for food, she took Pent from the bed and locked the door behind her with the key Rikku had left on the desk. It was completely silent, and she couldn't hear the other people who were supposed to be here – they might have been held up by the storm, and she hoped fervently that Vid would be here before long.

Before going downstairs, Bayla wondered past the next two sets of bedroom doors until she reached the end of the corridor, where another door stood in the wall with a glass panel window set into it. Beyond that was the communal washing facilities, and she went for a snoop round. The closest was the laundry room, with plenty of racks set up along the wall to hang clothes to dry, as well as a tumble dryer that she decided to avoid. El complained non-stop about how those things beat the living daylights out of her clothes so that they frayed and tore more easily.

Along from that was a shower room like the one at the sports facility in her school; a room for drying and dressing, and a long row of rectangular pods that separated the showers from each other by ten inches either side, and a heavy door with a shelf for soaps and shampoos.

On the other side of the hallway was a large room with toilets in stalls, and a long counter set with five sinks and an even longer line of mirrors. Curious cubes stuck to the walls were set over trashcans, and Bayla got the freight of her life when she idly waved a hand underneath one and found it started blowing hot air at her. Similar blocks were attached to the walls below the mirrors, and she found they dispensed soap in measured amounts. At school they had only one basin, paper towels, and an old fashioned bar of soap that smelled like disinfectant.

The three remaining doors right at the end of the building – two facing each other and the third set in the adjacent wall – were all large tiled rooms with raised daises that had huge sunken baths in them. All three had pastel colours; one was pink, one was green, and the last one was blue. Bayla made a mental note to call shotgun on this one whenever she could – the doors all had locks like the ones on a toilet stall, that showed green for vacant and red for occupied.

After checking the rest of her floor out, Bayla went back to the first floor and wandered around the boy's half. The lounge had mismatched armchairs and sofas with large beanbags on the floor around an old fashioned fireplace, all done up in clean creams and warm reds, with low coffee tables and scattered coasters all over the place, in the same dark wood as the bookcase that groaned from the weight of its load. Along from that was the game room, with a snooker table, an artist's easel set up in the corner, and another cupboard that had Spira's largest collection of card and board games. A small door in the corner led to the basement where a few pieces of fitness first equipment were housed under white sheets to keep them dust free.

Back upstairs and on the girl's side was the Sphere room, with a moderately sized screen and a wide selection of music and movie spheres to choose from, with another load of mismatched chairs and couches – this time in rich greens and browns.

The kitchen was about twice as big as Bayla's entire house, in plain black, grey and white. The cupboards had all the bread, cereals and preserves piled inside, along with a collection of bowls and plates that probably belonged in various sets but were just thrown in wherever. The drawers had cutlery and cooking implements, and there was an Al Bhed refrigerator and a chest freezer tucked into the corner opposite the cooker. There was an island work surface in the middle of this with stools spaced around two of the edges. At the other end of the room were two largish tables with wooden chairs of all shapes and sizes with patchwork cushions thrown around like a tsunami had just blown through. The windows had shutters that had been left open, and Bayla could see the light in the clouds quivering silently – the only sound besides her own breathing was the clock on the wall, which had the numbers going backwards and ticking over anticlockwise once she took a closer look.

After a quick scramble through the food stores to see what she could throw together that was hot and filling, Bayla admitted defeat and was about to go back upstairs when the lights flickered and went down for a moment before they came back up again. Wanting a candle just in case, she dived for the weighted door that had swung shut behind her as she entered.

It suddenly swung inwards and she screamed as she ran headlong into someone, convinced it was an axe wielding maniac or the fiend from under her bed coming to eat her.

XOXOX

Dustin had been on his way to the kitchen of his new dwelling to get something to eat before he holed up for the disturbing night, when the lights had dimmed. He'd made for the room with all haste to make sure he had a torch from the cupboard under the sink just in case, and run into someone at the door.

The someone screamed like a banshee and fell over backwards in their surprise, and he'd only just managed to maintain his balance. Once over the initial shock, he took a closer looks and realised it was a girl about his own age, who looked to be Al Bhed but wasn't…

It was another, totally different shock when he realised who it was.

"Fayth!" she said, visibly shaken. "I'm sorry! I didn't think anyone else was in the building,"

Dustin held out a hand to her, and she took it, he lifted her off the floor and she brushed herself down, still gushing.

"Are you alright?" she fussed over him rather like Aunt Rikku would.

"Yeah, I'm good." He was physically at least… "You?"

"Yeah, just scared stiff," she said flippantly, apparently over her trauma. "Lightning storm, away from home – out of the comfort zone. Ignore me, I'm rambling."

"Okay," what else could he say?

"Hey, aren't you Tarak's cousin?" she said suddenly, eyeing him up studiously. "From Luca?"

"Err, yeah. I am," no use trying to hide it.

"Oh, hey there!" she brightened up tremendously. "I didn't know you'd be here too,"

Neither did he, to be honest. And now she was here too. "Bayla, isn't it?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling, and he noticed the stuffed toy in her hands. "You remember Vidina? Tall guy, red hair?"

"Yeah, I do."

"You haven't seen him around have you?" she assumed a stance that again reminded him vaguely of Rikku.

"Err, no I haven't." what would he be doing here of all places?

"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway,"

Dustin moved out of the way so that Bayla could leave, and made his way further into the kitchen. He found the dented cooking pot, a packet of raw pasta, and a selection of pestos in the cupboard over the kettle and teapot counter, alongside the coffee pot and the tea bags. Dustin snarled to himself and began banging his way round the room while the water heated, putting things in a more logical order and cursing every time he found a new stupid location for an object, such as the stack of teacups in the cereal cupboard and the preserves in with the frying pans.

The front door slammed from far off, and Dustin was going to ignore it when he heard someone scream and ran into the sphere room to see what had happened. Bayla was hugging someone and gushing excitedly like a little kid, and the guy holding her was the same red haired man that had looked daggers at Dustin after spilling his drink down Bayla's dress at the club.

Vidina set her down on the floor and grinned at her, and they both started talking really quickly at the same time.

"Fayth I missed you!"

"Only been a week, ya?"

"You got a tan already!"

"And _you_ haven't, eh!"

"What's up with this storm?"

"I dunno, somethin' about the atmosphere. I only just got back in time. 'Nother five minutes and the base is on lock down, no one's allowed outside."

Then he looked up and he noticed Dustin for the first time.

"Hey, you doin' a course here too?"

"Yeah," it was only the art short course, and Tarak was bullying him on Rikku's orders to do something else as well, like metal craft or something weird…

"Isn't that what this building is for?" Bayla asked.

"Yeah, you seen your room yet?"

"Yeah. And have you _seen_ the kitchen? It's bigger than our house!" she waved her arms to emphasize the point.

Vidina laughed. "I got my posters up and everything. Wanna see?"

"Show me," she commanded, and they left the room. She smiled and said bye to Dustin before they went up the stairs and out of sight.

He blinked before going back to his cooking. Evidently, Vidina didn't remember him, or chose to ignore that he did. They were obviously close friends who knew each other very well, who had arrived here at different times. And why should Dustin care? It wasn't like he was going to go out of his way to integrate into someone else's social group – the motive for coming over here instead of staying in the guest room was so that he could melt away among the myriad of people in this dorm building and remain inconspicuous. His plan was to hide in the art studio and the swimming pool when he wasn't in his room.

The pasta was nearly cooked when the other two came back down, and it seemed rude to try and take his food away to eat upstairs, so he sat hunched in the corner eating his meal while Vidina and Bayla swanned round trying to find something to eat.

"Hey, buddy, you gonna eat this?" he asked, poking a spoon at the left over pasta.

"Go ahead," Dustin shrugged it off, not looking up.

"Oh Vid, look!" Bayla lifted a bag of flour from the cupboard. "We can make a cake!"

"What happened to the balanced diet Lady Julie was always talkin' about, huh?"

"I've just been plucked from my home!" she whined, giving him puppy dog eyes. "By the roots! Can't we have cake? It'll make me feel better!"

"That's what Pent's for," he picked up the stuffed toy which Dustin now saw was a chocobo.

"Put him down!" she shrieked at him, diving for the ragged thing.

Vidina laughed but gave it back. She glowered at him before attaching the toy to her belt so that it was within hands reach and set about collecting eggs and butter.

They worked together in comfortable silence for a bit, until Vidina asked about his parents, and Bayla grinned before launching into a full blow by blow account of the last week in their village. Dustin tuned most of it out, but he gleaned a bit of information from it all; they were from Besaid, their parents were close friends, and Bayla had two siblings that she spoke of with fondness.

The rest was meaningless – people and places that he had never seen or heard of. It became white noise as Dustin thought about a chord pattern he had come up with, thinking it through over and over again to keep his mind focused instead of wondering. He finished his meal, and dumped the utensils in the dishwasher before going back to his new room, leaving Vidina and Bayla chasing each other around the kitchen with a salt seller and a pepper grinder.

Dustin hadn't done much to make his room more comfortable; it was littered with clean laundry and books, with bare walls and an overly large single bed that could fit two people quite snugly. He tried hard not to think of his old room in the inn, with his own posters and storybooks, and the pictures he used to paint. It was still too painful to contemplate… A rousing round of intense strumming on his guitar in mindless melodies helped keep the dark thoughts at bay, but it grew wearing on him after a while.

Deciding he needed get the rest of his drying clothes from the laundry room, Dustin went to collect them, leaving his door wide open. As he came back he saw Vidina and Bayla walking towards him with a plate of cake and two forks. Vidina gave him a surreptitious look, and Bayla smiled broadly.

"Want some?" she said through a mouthful of cake, offering a large piece that was dripping with melted chocolate.

"No thanks," he said reflexively, but regretted it as they walked down the hallway and into the last room at the end. Pasta was all well and good, but he hadn't had chocolate cake in a long time.

After more jamming and attempting to read, Dustin got up to go to the toilet, and ran into Bayla on her way back towards the stairs. She had the remainder of the cake, and smiled as she offered the plate to him.

"Can I twist your arm? I'll explode if I eat anymore,"

"Go on," he said, taking a small piece and eating it then and there to please her.

"I'll leave the rest in the fridge. We made two, so we can have cake for breakfast."

Dustin merely nodded, said, "Thanks," before he set off down the corridor.

"Night!" she called after him, and went back downstairs.

That night was mildly disturbing, aside from the normal nightmares. Storms in the Moon Flow were not exactly uncommon, but they tended to be loud events. This was eerily quiet, yet fascinating to watch – it was the perfect distraction for his mind. When he finally fell asleep, exhausted in the early hours of the morning, he had no dreams at all, which was a huge relief when he woke up to an almost clear sky.

Down stairs Vidina and Bayla were already eating the remains of their second cake, and again she offered for him to join them. He tried to give her a smile, but he was too tired to make it look that sincere, and politely declined. He had his porridge with a dash of honey on the top and sat at the other table, wanting to be alone.

The other two were still chatting when Rikku came into the room, looking tired and worn but happy. She beamed at them all – probably because she thought Dustin was being sociable – and told them the good news.

"Lock down is over. For now, the guys in the data log lab think we might have another one within the next week. Anyway, I have stuff for you all to do. Vid, get your butt over to the library, Rosie's gonna show you how the filing system works. Dusty, you can start in the studio. Bay, El's waiting for you with Shulay. Hop to it, people!"

Dustin dragged himself over to the block of buildings that dealt with education, and buried himself in the corner again with a vase and a piece of paper, beginning to sketch it. He found his mind wondering, but not back to the darkness; he was thinking about Bayla and Vidina, and what they were doing now. It wasn't any of his business, and he certainly didn't want them messing around in his, but he just wanted to know what they were doing.

Whatever it was, it had to be more interesting than this…

XOXOX

"Bayla, this is my old teacher Shulay. Kylia, this is my brother's daughter Bayla." Elodie introduced them in Stroma, and they shook hands.

Shulay wasn't what Bayla had expected; she was an aging woman whose hair was turning grey, and so the braids were not dyed, but the beads were just as bright as El's. Bayla had been expecting an ancient woman with a soft-spoken voice and less of an 'attitude' like Elodie. Although, they _did_ say pupils took after their teachers – dad always said no one could be born naturally irritating like that…

Shulay wore a more traditional Zandal garb than El, with geometric shapes that came together to map out a family of bears in brown and grey like the bark of a tree. Evidently, that was her Shaman totem, and Bayla gulped at the thought of having to give up her water dragon in favour of a completely new animal token – yet another comfortingly familiar image torn down before her eyes.

The old woman's eyes were dark, almost black in colour, but they had that spark of intelligence she had come to recognise in several Zandal Shaman she had met before. She couldn't hide _anything_ form this woman – she would have to do her homework when told and inquire how high if she was told to jump.

Shulay grabbed Bayla by the chin and turned her head this way and that to get a better look, tutting and muttering to herself as she did, then she went to her work bench and began making a pot of tea. Elodie motioned for her to sit down, and Bayla did as she was told, looking around the room for the first time. Bunches of herbs and flowers hung from the ceiling, and there were all sorts of smells and bells all over the shelves, as well as jars of preservatives with leaves and moss, and even what looked like a goat's stomach. It would have been repulsive if she hadn't spent the last fayth knew how many years in biology lessons with the infamous Lady Julie and her many pickled specimens.

But there was something about goats and stones and anti-venoms that she remembered Elodie talking about years ago, so it made sense to have one here.

A cup of tea was dropped down in front of her and Shulay said, "Drink. It's good for the mind," her accent was slightly stronger than Elodie's, but it was pleasant to listen to.

A cup was given to Elodie, who smiled and gave thanks to the Fayth before drinking. Bayla wasn't expected to give thanks just yet – that was part of a Shaman's training, and she was only aiming for Medicine Woman at the moment. The two adults chatted for a bit about what had happened recently in their lives, and Bayla's attention began to drift.

"Well," El said loudly in Spiran. "I have to go, be good," she ruffled Bayla's hair and put her teacup away. "I'll drop by later and see how you're doing. Good luck!" and with that she left Bayla alone with the older Shaman.

Shulay didn't speak for a long time, just looked her up and down, making Bayla feel jumpy and nervous like last night with that creepy silent storm. Eventually, she gave a sort of indignant huff and spoke gruffly.

"She thinks I only know what to do with you. I know more than that. Come, I show you everything in this room and then you start learning."

Bayla soon knew where to find the herbs, slaves, tinctures, pastes, plasters, wraps, pots, pans, plants, herbs, kettle and a number of other things that escaped her mind after the show cased animal brains in the cupboard. Then she was shown the books, and told she would be working solely in Zandal languages, and she sent up a prayer of thanks to the fayth that her father had brought her up speaking the three major Zandal tongues, otherwise she would be well and truly screwed right now.

The first task was to take a book without pictures that described various plants, their respective parts and what could be used to heal and hinder a person's health, and use it to find the right plant in the workshop. Shulay watched her from over a cauldron, and Bayla felt like a minion in a badly scripted gothic movie sphere Yasmine had told her about as she played the pitiful lackey and sorted out the herbs. She had been given a table to herself to work at, and she spent a lot of time trying to come up with a successful system of laying out the specimens, until she decided to find the plants first, and then spilt them and their respective parts up into the pro-healthy and anti-healthy piles, before separating them further into pro-organ, nervous system, brain and psychological well being, and then the anti's.

Shulay dealt with about half a dozen people in the mean time, not once disturbing Bayla until gone lunch time when her stomach was complaining loudly about the lack of food.

"Well, show me." Shulay demanded, startling her.

Bayla tried to explain her mini filing system, and the old woman inspected her work closely before moving a few things around, and switching the pro-health and anti-health herbs around so they were the other way round to how Bayla had laid them out.

"You keep the healers at your right hand," Shulay told her brusquely. "Always. The left is your defender, where you handle the poisons – it must be protected by your hand. Health needs encouragement from your working hand to help heal, so you must use your right hand."

"Yes ma'am," Bayla said, petrified she was going to get kicked out at any moment.

"But other than that, a good first go. Come with me," they left the room and went to a small herb garden near the kitchen facilities, and pointed at a bunch of weeds in the corner. "You recognise?"

Bayla crouched down for a better look, and realised that she did. "It's Summoner's Wort!"

"Yes." Shulay seemed impressed. "And you know what its for?"

"Err…" oh _crap_ what had El said? "It fortifies the mind and soul and…stuff."

Shulay gave her an appraising look. "Summoner's drink this before praying to the fayth. It relaxes the soul and opens the heart – praying takes much from a Summoner's strength. But now, we need not worry about that. It also makes a good healing paste for deep wounds. Pick some now,"

They plucked the bundle from the dusty soil and then moved onto the rest of the garden. Bayla made a mental list of everything Shulay told her about the types of soil that were best for growing the more important plants in, and how they compensated for that here in the desert. When they were back in the workshop Bayla grabbed a piece of paper and started jotting down everything she had been told.

Something whacked itself smartly across her knuckles and she nearly fell out of her chair in alarm. Shulay was giving her a heavily disapproving look – a long wooden ruler in her hand – and Bayla cowered under the weight of her disgrace.

"What did I say to you? Before we began? You work in the Zandal tongue or not at all! Put that in the waste and start again. And you will speak only Stroma to me for the rest of the week to get your mind in the correct frame,"

Shamefaced, Bayla scrunched up her paper, put it in the trash can as opposed to drop kicking it across the room (deciding she might get smacked again if she did), and went back to start writing in glyphs. She was a bit rusty when it came to writing, but Elodie had taught her a few short hand tricks that she used in her own notes all the time, which Shulay made no comment on when she demanded to see them at the end of the session.

But before she could go, she was given one more task that involved picking up tiny coloured pebbles one by one and placing them in a tray. Shulay said, "Take as long as you like, and any order or pattern. As long as it's _one at a time_. Now prove my assumption that you have cloth for ears wrong."

Bayla tugged at her sleeve half an hour later to show the old shaman what she had done, and the woman looked almost pleased with the pattern that had immerged. Bayla hadn't even given it any thought; it was the outline of the Old Yevon symbol for the Besaid Fayth, but she had modulated the colours through it in a rainbow spectrum all the way along the neat lines that encompassed the design.

"I see. Very well, you may go now. You are to be here tomorrow after breakfast. I assume you shall eat at seven, and I expect you here at half hour past. Now go,"

Bayla staggered into the food hall after running into Kai, and they both demolished their food with indecent gusto. Apparently, Kai hadn't been able to stop and eat either for most of the day. Rose sat with them, and then Tarak, and eventually Vidina, and they spent a happy forty minutes talking together until they were called away for their duties.

Vidina had the next hour free, so they meandered around the base, and he showed her where the best sunbathing spots were and where to be in the stifling midday heat.

"But it's so _dry_," she exclaimed as they walked across the flat concrete towards the fence into the territory beyond the compound barrier. "It feels like someone's rubbed my throat raw with sand paper – and I've been _inside_ all day!"

Vidina laughed and slapped her on the back. "Easy for some, eh?"

Bayla scowled and started ranting about how she had been subjected to physical violence when she hadn't written in Zandal. "How is that fair?"

Vidina shrugged. "The researcher I've been assigned to yelled at me for not writing in Al Bhed. Though Zandal is harder to write in, really…"

Bayla's knuckles twinged painfully. "It bloody well _hurt_,"

"My eardrums burst already, ya?" he flicked his ear. "See? Get's pretty noisy in the library for some reason, 'specially when your cousin gets mad."

They drew to a halt in front of the fence and stared out into the sandy abyss beyond. Bayla had never seen the desert before, and the most sand she had ever seen was along the Djose shore; _this_ was one big sand box, where the sea was still beyond the horizon, and out of sight.

"Woah…" she breathed, tracing the chain-linked metal with her fingers. It was a lot to grasp for an island girl.

"I know," Vidina laughed. "I spent my first day out here – I couldn't get my mind round it! It's so _huge_,"

"Besaid's got _nothing_ on this," Bayla lamented, thinking about Deka and Zuo playing on the beach without her, and the potential for playing blitz and baking cakes with her dad. And then there was the weaving and sowing she did with mom and aunt Lulu…

"Don't think about it too much," Vidina gave her arm a squeeze. "I got real depressed the few couple of days. Best thing is to find something to focus on, then you don't get too homesick."

Bayla shook her head, then looked up at him with a weak smile. "And I gave up life for _this_ sandy dump? Wonder if I can get a refund…"

"You know, you're signed up for that art thing." He reminded her. "Normally you gotta pay but Gippal winged it for you on the house. But you're expected to _work_ at it or else your parents'll get the bill."

"Yikes," Bayla gulped. "No pressure then…"

They stared out into the sifting sands for a few more minutes, until Bayla found the clouds more interesting, and Vidina had to drag her away. He left her at the door to their building, promising to come find her later but having to rush back to work on Rose's project. Making her way up the stairs, Bayla forgot that other people lived her besides her, and started treating it like the stairwell of the science block where everyone would run three steps at I time up and down just because they could. She was almost feeling at home with her childish eccentricity when she reached the top step and barrelled into someone, spilling the books they had been carrying all over the floor.

"Oh-!" she nearly cursed in Spiran but chose to swear in a little known Zandal dialect. "_Drek_! I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking,"

The guy she had bounced right into was kneeling on the floor, looking up at her in shock after surveying the damage, and she realised it was Dusty.

"Sorry!" she gushed, trying to help him stack the books up neatly, her face burning. She had to stop bumping into him like this – he'd think she was a serial stalker or something after a while…

"No," he said, his voice somewhat vague and lost as though he wasn't really thinking. "Don't worry about it," he sighed heavily, and rested the books from her arms. "Really,"

"Still, I _am_ sorry." She insisted. "I need to get my head out of the clouds!" she was expecting some sort of smile, but what she got was more like a pained grimace that turned up slightly at the corners of his mouth before he tried to slide past her down the stairs without a word.

Already wrong footed by the sand and the storm and the lack of humidity, his casual brush off of their encounter hurt. Possibly more than it should do, but her pride had always been prone to bruising anyway; that's what you got when you were best friends with a blitzing boy, and your dad bullied you into the team.

All right, _she _had bullied _him _into letting her on the team, but it still meant you had no self-respect when you let a parent drill you in that way.

After copying up a set of notes carefully in Spiran and locking them away in her desk (with Shulay no chances could be taken) Bayla sat down to play her guitar. One of the strings snapped painfully close to her eye and she fairly jumped out of her skin, but then she sighed and set about restringing the damn thing. She always had about three spare sets because they snapped easily in the daily cycle of temperature and humidity in Besaid. The only thing she would have to worry about here was the extreme differences between night and day.

When that was done she started gathering paper and pen to write home, snarling at the thought of having to wait for the new strings to settle. She sat down at the desk and stared blankly at the paper, wondering what to write. Then, thinking that she should wait just a few more days, to let her parents think she wasn't a nervous wreck and was enjoying Bikanel, but also to wait for something worth while to report on.

One measly storm didn't sound overly impressive…

That suddenly gave her an idea; Bayla left to wander round the base until she ran into Elodie, who gave her a hug and asked about her fist day. Bayla chose her words so very carefully until Elodie burst out laughing.

"Just come out and say it, your dad's said far worse about her. Shulay's scary at times, and demanding, but she'll be the best thing that happened to you in medicine."

El helped her find the resources department, where she was picking up her own crate of shiny new books, and made suggestions while Bayla tried to pick out a blue journal. In the end, she left with pencils, pens, charcoal, paper, and a few unmarked books as well as a couple for reading material. The Al Bhed had something they called a 'lekejuri' that was like a thin, glossy paged booklet that held various bits of information for fun and pleasure more than academic gain; Elodie gave her a couple on Zandal Medicines, all written in Al Bhed of course.

Again, Bayla was thankful she had been brought up bilingual – more than that, in fact. She didn't know how many languages she knew in total, though there were a couple where she knew just enough to ask for the toilet, order a drink, and insult one's mother.

Elodie said goodbye once they were outside, and Bayla went back to her room to start on her work. She wrote on the front of a green book the symbol for 'heal' and started copying her notes carefully in Zandal shorthand; then she took the rest of her new books bar one and placed them on the shelves above her. Next her new stationary was filed away into drawers, and then she started on the blue bound book she had left on the desk.

Wondering which language to write in took a while, but then it came to her in a flash of inspiration.

Carefully, she wrote out the date in the top right hand corner, and then underneath in clear Spiran, she wrote: _Dear Diary_…

XOXOX

As the days trickled past, a few more people started to arrive, and Dustin became extremely annoyed when Tarak kept coming over to visit him and bully him into socialising with the rest of the building's inhabitants. So much for trying to melt into the masses!

Although it _did_ distract him, if only for a little bit.

Dustin was a master of people watching – when he was paying attention – which he hadn't been really lately. Once he got over his initial sulk, he almost started enjoying the time Tarak made him sit in the lounge and watch the people around him.

He kept a close eye on that Vidina character and Bayla, who had seemed overly edgy the first few days until she settled into an easy rhythm. She was often around the art rooms in the afternoon – covered in some sort of powder or nursing a new bruise, and a couple of times with stained clothes where some dark liquid had blemished her light coloured clothes. He gathered she was working with a Zandal on base somewhere because she was normally spitting blood about Stroma glyphs to Vidina in the evenings when they cobbled together something to eat.

Vidina was a trainee researcher, working with Rose and a couple of other older people in the development department, and Dustin gathered from his booming laugh and constant teasing – and a general lack of bitching about his own work – he was loving it.

The other's who had arrived included three kids from Bevelle between the ages of seventeen and twenty-six, who seemed unable to wrap their minds around the concept of life here in the desert; five people from around the Djose area (one was an Al Bhed); a Ronso youth who was already taller than the rest of them; and two Guado who seemed to get along with everyone.

It was an unconventional mix, since there were still small but isolated pockets of racial hatred loafing around, but this was severely frowned upon by most. It was oddly pleasant to be able to sit in a room of such accepting people, although they rarely ever approached him. It was probably his expression that put them off, and even Tarak gave up after a while when he refused to even join in playing card games with the others.

Dustin was watching for about a week until he encountered Bayla by herself again, and this time they didn't crash into each other. It was early one evening, when everyone else was out doing something weird at Tarak's invitation that had failed to catch his attention.

She smiled at him as he went into the kitchen to make some food, and said, "Heye,"

"Hi," he said back, and started pulling the objects he needed to cook close to him.

"Alright?" she asked, poking the kettle and staring wistfully at the mug in front of her.

"Yeah," he said automatically. Dustin didn't pay any attention to her (at least, he tried) as he started cooking. There were some meat leftovers in the fridge and he threw them and some vegetables into a casserole with a sauce he found in the cupboards.

"That smells _good_,"

Dustin looked up, startled. Bayla was sitting on the edge of one of the tables, watching him over the top of her steaming mug. She looked merely intrigued, innocently watching a housemate throw together a something from the dregs of the week's cooking; she was angling for a meal.

"Thanks," he said shortly, going back to his work, making sure the food didn't spoil on the cooker.

Wood scraped against the floor and he heard her footsteps until he almost felt her at his side. He gave her what he hoped was an annoyed look to make her go away, but she smiled sweetly and said, "How'd you do it?"

"Simple. It went in the pot." _Duh._

Bayla blinked, and gave him a sheepish smile. "I'm not good at cooking. I don't do much at home, my mom doesn't let me. I just chop veggies."

They were silent for a bit, until Dustin rounded on her, and the innocent smile came back.

"What do you want? Why are you hovering?"

"Vid's out, and he usually cooks my meals. Could I steal some of yours?"

"Can't you cook yourself?" he asked, exasperated.

"No, I told you. I don't cook."

"What about that cake?" he reminded her.

"That's baking! It's completely different!" she insisted, and he almost laughed at her expression. "Do _you_ bake?"

"Not really." He admitted. His mother used to make bread, but he had never learnt how.

"Tell you what," she put her mug down. "You give me some of that," she nodded at the simmering pot, "and I'll bake you a cake. What d'ya say?"

Dustin gave her a dubious look before he looked down at his casserole. "Make that ginger cake and we have a deal." He _loved_ ginger.

"Brilliant!" she bounced on the balls of her feet before holding her hand out to shake. He was surprised by how warm her hand felt, and he noticed that the nails of her right hand were longer than her left – by quite a margin.

Then she dashed off and started gathering bits and pieces from the cupboards. When the casserole was down he put it to one side and started dishing out portions for both of them while Bayla was still at work. He didn't want to give her a smaller portion than himself, but he didn't know if she would eat that much. It wasn't until she saw his hesitation that she brushed his doubts off.

"I'm _starving_."

So he gave her a large like his own, and they sat down to eat it quickly so she could make the cake. He found it fascinating that she claimed she couldn't cook, when here she was making a cake. It was _so_ fascinating he found himself helping her, and ended up crushing crystallised ginger for her while she whipped up a batter and somehow managed to zest a couple of lemons in the process.

"Enlighten me," he said after a while of crushing. "If you're that bad at cooking, how can you bake?"

Bayla gave him a grin as she effortlessly scraped the skins from the two lemons – without even looking. "My dad and I bake. Mom does all the cooking, and I always manage to set things on fire unless I use the oven for baking. Guess I'm gifted and plagued, really."

Dustin found himself smiling involuntarily. He remembered her comment on her Al Bhed heritage, and began wondering. Eventually, he started asking questions about her, which she was happy to answer.

Bayla was learning about Shamanism and training to be a Zandal Medicine Woman; Elodie à Stroma was her surrogate aunt, a woman Dustin had seen in passing, and her father was an adopted member of the tribe. He was a blitzer, and he taught the sport to the kids at her old school, where her mother was also an art teacher. She had two younger siblings who were fraternal twins, named Deka and Zuo.

"Zuo…is that Al Bhed?" Dustin asked as they mixed his ginger into the batter.

"Yeah, _Joy_. Aren't my parents imaginative? Deka's full name is _Dekan memo_. I'm the oh Peaceful one. I think it's great personally cause it makes me a walking oxymoron."

Dustin really did laugh this time; Bayla was anything but peaceful, from what he had already observed. She felt vibrant and energetic, even though all they were doing was bake a cake.

In went the lemon zest, and then they poured it into a pre-greased cake tin. It went into the oven and Bayla started juicing the four lemon halves into a jar.

"For my mentor," she told him when he gave her a questioning look. "Lemon juice is good for a few things – it kills bacteria and stuff."

"Huh," he breathed, looking at the oven door. "How long will that take?"

"Oh," Bayla shrugged and checked her watch. "Check on it at seven, should be done by then. So," she stretched her arms before leaning against the counter behind her and giving him a playful look. "I spilled my guts to you. Now it's _your_ turn,"

Dustin instantly tensed up, and inwardly debated legging it from the room.

"I'd…rather not," he said slowly, watching her expression closely.

It fell, became confused, and then clouded over as she twigged what was going through his mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to…"

He shook his head. "It's not your fault. Or your problem."

Bayla bit her lip, sincerely sorry. "Don't talk about it, if you don't want to. We can talk about something else,"

He suppressed a laugh and gave her a crooked smile. "Blitz? Nice outfit at the opening match, by the way,"

Bayla flushed. "How I support my team is _none_ of your business, mister."

"_Loved_ the hair," he teased her.

"Shut up!" Bayla snapped, but she was smiling and laughing too. "I am _proud_ of my mongrel heritage."

"Mongrel?" he was again intrigued by her use of words.

"Al Bhed, Spiran, Zandal, Besaid…my dad's a freak, so yeah. I'm a mongrel."

Dustin cocked his head to one side and appraised her again. Tall, slender, lean even; fair skin that didn't belong in this glaring sun and dark brown hair that betrayed her Al Bhed legacy. And eyes like two scraps of the sky, or two drops of ocean – again not remotely Al Bhed. Khaki knee length shorts, and a white tank top sporting the Aurochs logo, topped off with the rattiest pair of shoes he had ever seen.

Mongrels weren't supposed to be that attractive to look at, were they?

"What?" Bayla raised her hands to her face and started rubbing. "Fayth, I don't have a Yorik stain on my face do I?"

"No, just day dreaming." He admitted.

"Ever have that? Where you're talking to someone and tune out and start day dreaming, and you have no idea what they just said?"

"Not really," Dustin smiled. She must have been a nightmare at school. That Shaman must have put the fear of Yevon into her from the way she harped on about it – daydreaming sounded like a _big_ no-no with the woman.

"Ah, must be just me then," but she smiled as she said this. "I have the attention span of a-" she stopped abruptly and narrowed her eyes at the window.

Vidina was standing outside, grinning at them and making odd sort of motions with his hands that Dustin couldn't quite figure out.

"Argh!" she snarled, and ran at the window. "Baka!"

Vidina legged it, and she flung the window open before jumping out into the twilit grounds, screaming after him in what Dustin assumed was Zandal. He could still hear Vidina's booming laugh as he ran away across the dusty grounds.

It was well past seven when she came back, and Dustin was curled up in the lounge on a sofa reading a book someone had left on the coffee table. Bayla stalked in with a face like thunder, and fell unceremoniously into an armchair where she proceeded to glower at the opposite wall.

"I want to go home," she said mutinously, and Dustin raised an eyebrow.

"So go home." He stated.

"I _hate_ Vidina." She snarled.

"So don't talk to him."

"I _can't._ He's my best friend. You don't just _ignore_ someone like that." She looked like a sulky spoiled brat, and it took everything Dustin had not to laugh at her.

"It's quite easy, actually." He said once he had calmed himself down. "I do it all the time to Tarak."

"Yeah, but Tarak's a douche bag," Bayla said, suddenly more conversational in tone. She sat up straight and gave him a very serious look. "He doesn't really count, does he?"

It was with great surprise that Rikku found them ten minutes later on the sofa, still laughing at the reel of insults that they had just put together for Tarak. After establishing that everyone else was out, and that there was a scheduled fire drill the next day, she left them with a rather confused look on her face.

Dustin managed to calm himself down and stop laughing, but one look from Bayla and they burst into fits of giggles again. He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed like this – not since before the storm that had wrecked the inn, at least.

Bayla just made it so easy to find a reason for laughing – especially at Tarak's expense! He wouldn't be able to look his cousin in the eye for a few days, not after what Bayla had just said.

Dustin sat back against the arm of the sofa and appraised Bayla as she slowly calmed herself down, and grinned at the wall instead.

"You're horrible," he told her.

She flashed him a grin and flipped a lock of hair over her shoulder. "Why, thank you! I've been working at it for _years_ – does it really show?"

He supposed he had to take some of the things they had said about Tarak back – if he hadn't bullied Dustin into moving here, he wouldn't be sat here talking to her now.

"So, you want some of that cake now? It should be cool enough,"

They went back to the kitchen, and found that the cake had sort of collapsed in on itself like a pastry black hole. When they tried to cut a piece it just disintegrated into a pile of crumbs, and Dustin waited for Bayla's reaction to the fiasco.

"Fayth _damnit!_" she snarled, but then brightened. "Hey, I got an idea!"

This idea of hers turned out to be brilliant; she managed to find some treacle sauce in the fridge which they heated up and poured over the crumbling cake, and Bayla threw a couple of spoonfuls of cream on top.

"Hey, if it works," she said in answer to his questioning gaze. "Right?"

Dustin had a bowl of ginger cake and treacle with liberal cream pushed into his hands, and he couldn't refuse her. He couldn't quite work out why he was allowing her to make him do these things, where no one else had been recently. It was rude to decline, after all the effort Bayla had put in, but that wasn't it. It could have been the wish to please and be polite as a peace offering to ensure that he had an ally in here, but it wasn't that either.

It was the simple companionship she gave, with out demanding anything from him except his periodic attention. She didn't pry, and had so obviously backed off the moment she had hit a nerve – Bayla was very perceptive. And because her presence was so undemanding…it felt like the easiest and most natural thing to stand there in the kitchen with her, eating their near-catastrophic desert with relish.

Looking up, Bayla caught his gaze, and gave him a smile, before lowering her eyes to the bowl so she could scoop up the leftovers at the bottom. It was wonderfully peaceful while Dustin finished off his own, until Vidina came in with a couple of the others, and started giving Bayla an ear full of it.

"You didn't save _me_ any? You bitch!"

"Back off, git face!" she snarled, threatening to bludgeon him with her bowl. "You left me! You don't _deserve_ cake!"

They started a sort of catfight that quickly escalated into a full-blown punch up, leaving Dustin feeling severely wrong footed. Where had the serene and cake loving girl from five minutes ago just gone? He asked Tarak if those two were _always_ that violent with each other, and he burst out laughing.

"Oh Dustin," Tarak clapped him on the shoulder. "You ain't seen _nothing_ yet!"

XOXOX


	9. Settling

**AN: wow, that took a long time to write xD I apologise for the late update, I was intending to have this done sooner but anything and everything cropped up at the most inopportune moment and this got thoroughly neglected :(**

**Anyways, here's another chapter; please do read and drop me a review, I appreciate your thoughts and general input :)**

_**Settling**_

"Our first letter," Yuna smiled, handing the envelope over to Lulu. "Almost a week. Tidus was getting frantic,"

Lulu smiled, unfolding the lovingly creased piece of paper to read. Bayla's slanted, loopy handwriting stared back from the paper – the dots on her 'i's and 'j's as well as the full stops and commas were all little circles, a trait that Tidus shared with her.

"May I?" Lulu asked.

"Go ahead," Yuna insisted, helping to clear the mugs from the table.

Lulu settled in to read Bayla's report, which proved to be entertaining.

_Dear Mom, Dad, Deks, Zuo, And of course Lulu and Wakka!_

_It's REALLY hot and dry, I'm not gonna lie. And there's sand friggin' everywhere! There was this weird electshmro-magnetical storm thing the first night, which was just weird. It was just lightening, with no thunder, no rain, and no wind! That was just plain freaky – and apparently so dangerous the moment I got off the airship with El we got bundled indoors and everything was in lock down mode._

_My room is slowly getting filled with crap, mostly from Shulay. It's like the apothecary in Kilika to be honest – I'm trying to grow some of the herbs but I've killed most of them off, and this one pot Vid and I brought in had a scorpion in it so the whole floor started panicking. I think Gippal was ready to kill us until Shulay got involved…My respect for that woman is so very sincere, but I am shit scared she will turn on me eventually, so I'm doing my best to keep on top of everything so she has less reason to fly off the handle with me._

_Sorry dad, haven't been able to blitz since I got here! The Psyches hog the pool, and Vid's never around to play with me, so I've not been practising at all. Sad times…_

_On the other hand though, I have been playing a lot of guitar. There's this guy on my floor who plays too, and he's trying to teach me to cook, which is hilariously funny to watch really since I nearly burnt the kitchen down twice in the space of ten minutes. Luckily, he cooks my meals for me and I bake him cakes in return, so we're both gaining from this by staying moderately alive. Its funny cause no one understands the importance of sugar and sweetness in your diet! Apparently, I'm just using him for food – but he _is_ getting something valuable in return; that's the practical upshot of my evenings at the moment, aside from writing in Zandal and trying to keep the herbs alive. All I do is bake cakes now! I think Vidina's pissed at me because I dared to try and replace him, but what's the worst he can do? I already know all his weaknesses and whatever, he can't get one over me that easily!_

_Not gonna lie, I do miss you guys LOADS, but I'm having loads of fun here too, and I'm glad El dragged me over here for this. I never knew plants could be so interesting! Eat your heart out, Jamal – bet you didn't know that the Moon Lily (a symbol of fertility) can be distilled into a tea that acts as a contraceptive that NEVER fails? Shulay thought it was amusing when I laughed at that – now _that_ is an oxymoron._

_Art is mildly interesting too, though I haven't done much to be honest since Shulay keeps me busy running round with bulbs and stalks most of the time. I got a few watercolours and some lino prints done, but nothing really worth mentioning. I get so tired because I'm speaking Al Bhed around the base, completely in Zandal to Shulay, and then Vid gets back at the end of the day and starts banging on in Spiran so I have to change my mind set AGAIN for the git. I think my brain cells are slowly dieing off due to over exposure to all this new knowledge – it just does not STOP. Like EVER! That and the heat; I may have already died of heat stroke but Shulay won't let that stop me so I wouldn't have noticed it anyway._

_I hope everything's okay in Besaid, write back and let me know what I've been missing! How's little Tnays doing? And how's the blitz practise going with Zuo and Deka? If you guys don't make the team this year so help me I'll beat you round the head with my new staff when I come back down there!_

_Anyway, please do write back sometime soon, I feel inadequate with everyone else getting letters from home every other day and there's lil'ol'me sat there staring at the wall in sadness because you don't love me enough to send me a message!_

_Kidding, I know I should have written sooner, but I didn't having anything exciting to report beyond a splinter in my pillow, and I'm sure you wanted to hear about the scorpion and the storm and everything in one go. (Did I mention the burst water pipe in the tech buildings? It made a rainbow in the sky and the rest of us southerners were having a whale of a time until they shut off the water supply. It was the best thirty seconds of my life here so far.)_

_Love to hear from you soon, miss you like crazy (like El's mad scientist crazy!)_

_Write back soon!_

_Lots of love,_

_Bayla xxxxx_

Lulu smiled and put the letter down on the table. Yuna sat down opposite her with two mugs of tea, one of which she handed over, and took the letter back, rereading it with a smile.

"She's absolutely fine. I've been in touch with Rikku,"

"And what's the verdict?"

"Duck to water," Yuna concluded, sipping her tea. "Tidus was so worried when we didn't hear from Bayla. I called up Rikku and she said she was doing okay. El hasn't been able to stop recently, but she passed a message on to me through Rikku."

"What did she say?" Lulu asked.

"Shulay thinks she could be a Shaman if she can apply her concentration for more than five minutes to a set task." Yuna smiled ruefully.

Lulu suppressed a laugh. "Now who does _that_ remind you of?" she wondered out loud.

"Typical, how she manages to find someone to share musical talents _and_ cook for her. I'll bet this boy she talks about is doing the art course as well. Rikku said Bayla's been talking to Gippal's nephew."

"Oh, the one who-?" Lulu didn't finish when Yuna gave her a heavy nod. They had heard second hand about what had happened to Gippal's sister, and that he was looking after his nephew now. "I wonder, maybe that's him?" Lulu tapped the corner of the letter with her index finger. "The same boy,"

"Could be," Yuna shrugged. "Either way, I'm glad. After all that worry about what would happen to her, and she's found her place for now."

Lulu raised an eyebrow. "For now?"

"I don't see her wanting to settle down in New Home," Yuna smiled at the thought. "She's not a desert girl."

Lulu could see the sense in that. They talked a bit more about their children, and then the conversation wandered off on a tangent until it had modulated into a debated about the price of fish from the Kilika market. Quite how they ended up there, Lulu didn't know, but it was pleasant all the same.

"Well, I'd better get going," Yuna said, clearing the tea mugs away. "Deka and I are going shopping later. She has to make an outfit for the light festival next year as a project and we need to go to Kilika to pick up a few things,"

Lulu smiled and waved as Yuna left, and folded the letter up for Wakka to read later. Vidina had sent one quick note to them so far, but promised to write more when something had actually happened that was worthy of note. Either that, or he was too busy to write at the moment; he and Bayla were there to work and learn, after all.

There were a few jobs around the house that needed doing, and Lulu was just getting stuck in when Deka rushed into the house, face a glow with excitement and bouncing on the spot.

"Aunt Lulu!"

"Hello Deka, what is it?"

"Mom wants to know if you wanna come with us to Kilika for the day!" her enthusiasm rivalled that of her father. "_Please_ say yes!" she begged.

XOXOX

Kilika was louder than Besaid, and though Deka liked visiting its market place, she preferred Besaid. There was something to be said about the floating wooden streets and the narrow long boats that took people and cargo up and down town; it all had a certain sense of charm about it.

But it was like a fairy tale that was nice to read and listen to, but Deka preferred her earth bound, dusty jungle village.

It felt odd being the only girl in the house, even if Bayla had never been the perfect example of femininity. Proper stereotypical girls liked cooking and baking, sowing and gossiping, and drinking red wine. Bayla was a disaster in the kitchen, and although she liked painting and textiles her gossip included the latest in the sports world, and she preferred beer over wine any day – girly, that girl ain't.

But still, without her big sister around, everything felt slightly off.

Today, Dad and Wakka were fishing with Zuo, which meant that the girls could go shopping. Deka loved that sort of thing, and even though she knew Bayla probably would have hung back to fish or play blitz rather than go with them, it still felt weird.

This project would have been something her older sister would have _loved_ to get her mitts on; the light festival happened on the shores of Djose every year to commemorate the lives lost in the Crusader Operations against Sin, and their school was taking part in the parade next spring. Because there were so many schools that took part, they had to have a sort of rotor for who did what so everyone had a turn, and Deka would be helping with the displays in the coming year.

Sadly, this also meant a lot of extra work – Deka was happy to do it, but she had been looking forward to team tryouts. It would have been nice to have Bayla around to help her make banners and sow beads onto clothes, but she would have to make do. Besides, Mom and Lulu were just as good at that sort of thing…

It wasn't very consoling as Deka walked up and down the stalls, noting how Bayla would have gone mad from happiness if she had seen that shade of blue on that sarong, or the cut of this top, or the way the light played off the water onto the hull of that boat…

It was a bit depressing. Deka couldn't work the right amount of excitement into her actions as everything reminded her painfully of her sister's absence, even if she had fooled Aunt Lulu earlier with her momentary excitement. She trailed behind the two women as they wound their way through the zigzagged streets over the shallow waters below, feeling more glum with every step.

Deka jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to find her mother standing beside her.

"Is everything all right?" she asked gently.

Deka blinked; Lulu wasn't in her immediate field of vision. Where had she gone?

"Yeah," she scuffed her toe against the dusty wooden boards, sighing when the sole of her sandals started to come undone. These shoes had been Bayla's once upon a time – she had worn them down so much that they were only just serviceable when they were handed to Deka. They weren't fit for anything really anymore…

"Come on," her mother said, taking her arm and steering her away from the fabric stalls to the food end of the walkway. "Let's get something to eat."

Deka waited until they were perched on the end of a pier, staring out to sea, before she asked the one question that had burned through her mind for the last few days.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

Deka took a deep breath. "Do you miss Bayla?"

Her mother lowered the pastry from her lips slowly, and turned to fix Deka with a deep expression. It was really easy to forget that this woman was the High Summoner – she had _always_ been just 'Mom' to her and her brother and sister; but in that deep look, it wasn't hard to see what everyone else saw in Lady Yuna – the quiet, understated weight of her acumen.

"I do. But I know that she's being looked after, and she'll come home to visit at some point in the future. And I know she's having fun," she smiled at the thought.

Deka pulled a face. "But don't you wish she was still _here_ with _us_?"

"What I want is irrelevant – Bayla wanted to go, so she went. If she was that upset about leaving home, she would have come back by now."

"Yeah but…!" Deka scowled at her sandals – her mother was right, and there wasn't a thing in the world she could do to change it.

When Yuna laughed, she looked up sharply, frowning, but relaxed as she was pulled into a tight embrace. "One day, your father and I will be mourning your departure, and you'll be off exploring the world wondering why you ever wanted to stay in Besaid."

"Doubt it…" Deka said sullenly, snuggling into her mother's arms. Pulling back to look her in the face, Deka noticed the dark rings visible beneath the patchwork eyes. "Mom, you sleeping okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, just up late last night reading." Her mother shrugged it off.

Deka watched her shrewdly for the rest of the day, and beyond the occasional yawn that Lulu joked was infectious, there wasn't much else to brood over.

Looking up at the brilliant mid afternoon sun as they caught the ferry home, Deka concluded that whatever Bayla was doing on Bikanel Island, it had to be no good – and she was probably loving every moment of it.

My turn, she thought to herself, leaning against the handrail and watching the dolphins swim alongside in their wake, one day.

XOXOX

The screams of delight and terror were getting on Dustin's nerves; some 'open air' swimming pool (basically under a glass panel roof that opened like a set of windows) had been opened, and it was exclusively for messing around in and not for serious blitz training. He had thought that he could get some peace and quiet, but naturally the rest of the youth body of the base had stormed it in force and claimed it as their own.

The panels were open, so he could hear the masses within shouting and yelling as they chased each other in and out of the water. Vague memories of the Moon Flow and doing the exact same thing with his friends in the waters there kept trying to surface in his mind, but Dustin pushed them aside angrily; he wasn't ready to face the past.

He was, however, exceedingly interested in what Bayla was doing. Unlike Vidina and Tarak marauding around the pool, she was perched on a rock in the sand nearby the building, and it looked like she was reading something.

Knowing he had little to lose by investigating, Dustin left the shadows of the swimming block and walked over to Bayla, hoping his gait was strong and confident.

"Hey," he said loudly to gain her attention.

Bayla jumped and nearly lost her seat. Clutching her heart, she stared up at him and said, "Don't _do_ that! I nearly had a heart attack,"

Dustin winced. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Bayla patted the space on the rock beside her, and he obligingly sat down. She grinned, folding two sheets of paper in half and tapping the edges with her fingers – this girl was prone to fidgeting _a lot_.

"Don't worry. How's you?" she asked, eyes flickering towards the pool before back to him.

"All right," he glowered at the sound of Tarak's voice. "Could do without the noise…"

Bayla laughed. "Yeah, I wanted to go outside today – you know, get some fresh air – and then Vidina called for an all out water war. I dunno where else to go really. I mean, the canteen's gonna be too busy, and that courtyard is hardly an 'open space'…" she leant her chin in her hand and stared into the distance, looking dejected. "It's not green enough round here…"

Dustin thought quickly, and an idea sprang to mind – the oasis. Before he could tell her, she sighed and unfurled the papers again to look at them. Unable to stop himself, Dustin looked over her shoulder and saw that each piece had different handwriting; the top one was in a neat, flowing script that came from a well-cultured and intellectual mind. Then she flipped it over to read the bottom one, and this writing was less neat and more scruffy – sort of reminded him of her own handwriting (at least what he had seen of it so far).

Bayla sighed heavily, and Dustin found his head tilting to one side as he gazed at her.

"Something wrong?"

"Nah, just being immature…"

"How so?" he hedged.

Bayla pulled a face, tracing the shape of the letters at the very bottom of the page that spelled out 'love you loads' with the tip of her finger. She exhaled loudly, but took a long time to actually say anything.

"Just miss home. It's so stupid," she scratched her cheek absently before stuffing the letters into her pocket. "I'm basically an adult – and I'm homesick! I need to grow up…" she stared broodingly at the sand by their feet.

Dustin cleared his throat, and her eyes flickered his way. "Not really. It's natural to miss home if you've never been so far away for so long." He certainly missed the Moon Flow with a passion, but he had no reason or desire to go back there now. Bayla had every reason and more than enough desire to go back…

"I'm happy here," she said slowly, looking at her shoelaces while Dustin studied her face. "I really am. I just…miss home." She shook her head. "It's a crap way of putting it, but I dunno what else to say…"

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit longer, watching the wispy clouds float by until Bayla sprang to her feet in a sudden movement.

"I wanna go do something." She said to the sand in front of her, before turning her head to Dustin. "You wanna go do something?"

Dustin stood up as well, thinking about the oasis. "Yeah okay."

"Right!" she clapped her hands together and stared out into the distance. "So, where are we going?"

"Erm," he was about to oh so nonchalantly suggest a foray into the territory beyond the compound to look for greenery when they both jumped at the loud voice that barked at them across the sandy expanse.

"Crap!" Bayla hissed, straightening up to meet the gaze of an aging Zandal woman with grey hair and eyes like dark and tempered steel. "Doubra Daan, Kylia." She tried to smile but it was weak against the disapproving look she was earning.

"Raka!" The woman said in a gruff voice, and started berating her in Zandal before raising her hand high, proclaiming, "Dah, koraali Jensaa. Bali!" and with that she turned on her heel and marched away.

"Err," Bayla gave Dustin a sheepish look. "I sorta hafta go now and work…I'll catch you later,"

Dustin was about to speak again but the Zandal woman shouted something at them and Bayla raced across the sand to be at her side almost instantaneously. He merely blinked in the strong afternoon light, and she was gone like that. Then he jumped when someone right behind him laughed and slapped him on the back.

"Heh, don't envy her! That one looks like a right old battle axe,"

Dustin gave Tarak a withering look.

"Come join us!" his cousin insisted.

"No, piss off Tarak." Just before he left, Dustin noticed a sheet of paper on the ground, and bent down to scoop it up. There were two sheets, each with a different set of handwriting on them; they must have fallen out of Bayla's pocket when they'd stood up.

Ignoring his cousin, Dustin set off to find Bayla to return the letters like a noble gentleman. After running round the base three times and not knowing where she was, he started to get curious about what was written in the letters. He knew he shouldn't, that they were private and it was immoral to pry into someone else's life like that, but eventually he succumbed to his curiosity.

Deciding his best bet was to give them to her that evening, he went back to their sleeping block and barricaded himself in his room. After ten minutes of further inward debating, he flipped the papers over to read them.

The neater handwriting was obviously from a friend of a similar age, and judging by the eloquent and flowing form of her words, extremely well educated. Dustin read the top paragraph that talked about the blitz tournament and Luca before scanning through the rest. This girl was obviously good friends with Bayla, and the name _Yasmine_ signed at the end registered dimly in his mind from the bar – the girl in green who'd looked on in horror after he'd lost his drink down Bayla's dress.

Annoyed with himself, Dustin scanned the other letter in the scruffy handwriting. It was much more colloquial, written in hasty excitement, and signed at the bottom with the words '_love you loads, miss you like a hole in the head! Dad xxx_'

Dustin carefully folded both letters into his pocket to be returned to Bayla later that evening. He felt ashamed, reading her letters like that without permission, and he was still trying to convince himself of how low and offensive that was of him when someone started banging against his door.

On closer inspection, it was Bayla, and she looked excited about something.

No sooner had Dustin's heart lifted, it plummeted into the floor when he saw Tarak standing behind her, looking equally enthusiastic.

"What do you want?" he demanded, glowering at them both.

"There's a fight out in the square!" Tarak exploded loudly, bouncing around like Aunt Rikku before taking off down the corridor, whooping loudly as they heard Vidina do the same a floor down.

Bayla grabbed his hand, grinning, and Dustin nearly lost his nerve.

"They've got cake over in the canteen! Vid and I lied to Tarak to put him off the trail, come on! There won't be any left in half an hour when the labs close!" and with that, she pulled him along the corridor to the stairs without waiting for a response.

Vidina was standing by the main door, watching like a spy, and the three of them made a grand escape from the building to the canteen in the researcher's block. Much as Dustin hated being pressed into something he didn't want to do, he found he didn't mind Bayla bullying him into doing this.

They descended upon the cake in the canteen with relish, huddling outside in the courtyard by the fishpond to hide from passers-by. Vidina seemed a lot more relaxed than usual; at least he wasn't trying to give Dustin a hard time – he'd long since guessed that this guy was like Bayla's over protective big brother, which was why he earned so many glares from the guy. But today, he was talking politely and being more friendly than Dustin had ever seen him.

Bayla snidely put in about a certain letter from a certain someone, and Vidina tried to hit her. It wasn't until after their fight ended that he remembered the letters in his pocket, and once Vidina had gone to get thirds, he gave them back to her.

"Oh!" she said, clutching them to her chest like she did with that ridiculous rag doll of hers that she loved so much. "Thank you! I though I'd lost these,"

"S'okay," Dustin shrugged it off, not expecting anything beyond a verbal thanks. He was stunned when Bayla flung her arms around his neck and gave him a hug.

When was the last time someone had hugged Dustin? Aunt Rikku, probably, after he'd first got here; this was _totally_ different for too many reasons to count, but it was over before his mind could catch up with the turn of events.

Bayla tucked the letters into her pocket, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hello, what's all this?" someone said in Al Bhed.

They both looked up to find Gippal and Rikku standing in the middle of the courtyard, watching them. Uncle Gippal had that self-assured smirk Dustin remembered vaguely from his childhood, and Rikku was positively beaming. Vidina came back, shattering the embarrassing moment like glass with his booming laugh, which left Dustin reeling while the others settled back into the rhythm of normality.

Soon after his aunt and uncle joined them, Dustin left – excusing himself with the need to do some catch up artwork even though he'd been working on it most of the day. As he went back indoors, clear as a bell across the other noises in the courtyard, he heard Bayla's voice.

"See you later!"

XOXOX

Yasmine stared at the wall above her desk, willing herself to go to bed.

It was now well past midnight, and she couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried – short of drugging herself, which she had tried to stave off as a last resort only. In her hands was a letter Vidina had written to her, talking about his work in the desert, lamenting his loss of the tropical greenery of his island home, and expressing a wish to see her again sometime soon. It was so very sweet and touching, and could not be marred by Bayla's demanding letter about what was going on between them that had been tucked safely into the bottom drawer of the desk. It was thoughtful of her to worry about Yasmine like that, and want to make sure she was okay – but certainly part of it was out right indignation that Vidina hadn't told her a single thing. It made Yasmine smile to think that Bayla cared enough to cover up her thoughtfulness with insistent and somewhat brash questions; the girl truly cared and didn't want her to see just how much.

Either way, Vidina's kindness and Bayla's insistence weren't helping her to sleep.

Yasmine hadn't slept well at all the last week or so; she had been having dizzy spells all day, and bouts of nausea without rhyme or reason, and then at night when she finally drifted for a few hours of sleep she was plagues by nightmares that disappeared the moment she woke up.

From what little she could remember, they were the crude workings of a child's mind – the sort of monsters that lurked beneath the bed of a five-year-old child, the ones that could be vanquished by crawling into mommy and daddy's bed to sleep. There were other things that she couldn't remember, that she knew were far worse, but the memory of them was never clear.

It was getting worse as time went on, and she had mentioned it in her last letter to Vidina, but she hadn't had the reply yet; this one in her hands was a week old and she was only rereading it to try and take her mind away from the dreams. That, and she liked reading his letters…

Sighing, Yasmine ran a hand through her hair before standing up to get a drink from the side table – Tara had left her a tray with a pot of tea and some plain crackers to settle her upset stomach earlier. With a mug in hand, Yasmine crawled into bed and tried to read a book for a while.

Slowly, she felt herself drifting until she was aware that the book had fallen from her hand but didn't have the presence of mind to catch it before it hit the floor. Then the room dissolved into black shapes and shadows, and everything came flooding back to her.

With terrible clarity, every single nightmare came back to her – and instead of trying to memorise them to be analysed when she was awake, Yasmine tried to block them out, to sever the ties to those memories and forget them completely; this wasn't a dream at all, it was reality, and it was frightening her to death.

Everything was crystal clear; the swirling forms, the bright bursts of colour, and the voice that kept talking to her in horrible, deathly tones as she fought to keep her sanity. Then the hand came back – the thing that had scared her most from before, trying to wrap itself around her throat and throttle the life from her.

Yasmine opened her mouth to scream, but she couldn't find her voice – and then she realised she had no mouth with which to scream anyway. She was trapped in a formless body that could do nothing but listen and watch the horrors around her until everything went completely black, and there was no sound at all.

Not a breath or a heart beat.

XOXOX

When Tidus heard the screaming, his mind reeled from the dream he had been having; something stupid and insignificant about blitzball. He sat bolt upright and reached for his hunting knife that wasn't under his pillow, yelling something about fiends and sin spawn.

Yuna was next to him in their bed, also sitting up, eyes wide and staring ahead, shaking like a leaf.

Tidus blinked; there _were_ no sin spawn, or fiends for that matter. They were at home, in Besaid, in bed, in the early hours of the morning, with nothing there to harm them what so ever.

"Hey," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, shocked to find her drenched in a cold sweat. "Hey!" he grabbed her other shoulder and pulled her round to face him. "Yuna!"

"Oh Fayth…" she said before bursting into tears.

Tidus was stunned – he had no idea what was wrong, or where this had suddenly come from – all he could do was hold her until the tears stopped. It tore at his already bruised heart; he had taken Bayla's departure badly, and he felt emotionally wounded from the experience even though he'd tried his hardest for the sake of his eldest daughter, as well as his two younger children. But the last time Yuna had cried like this was an altogether more painful memory he didn't want to think of right now.

Eventually, she calmed down enough to be able to speak, but before she could utter a word he murmured in her ear that he would be right back and went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. It was Lulu's ultimate answer to everything, and it usually made her feel better. He was delayed in his return when Zuo stumbled out of his room to demand what was going on.

"Was that _you_?" he stipulated angrily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Yup," Tidus said blandly, mixing the hot drink on the counter.

"You scream like a _girl_," Zuo sneered.

"Meh, what you gonna do?" Tidus turned round and shooed him away. "Go on, kid, _bed_. You've got training later."

"What's with the hot chocolate then?" he snarled as he was chivvied back to his room.

"Peace offering to your mother. Move it, kiddo."

Zuo gave him one last filthy look before he shut the door with a pronounced click. Tidus left everything in the sink and took the cup back to their room, and set it on the bedside table. Yuna was sitting with her back against the headboard, knees to her chest, staring fixedly at the tangled blankets he'd left in his wake.

"Hey, feeling better?" Tidus asked gently.

Yuna gave an offhanded shrug, not looking at him. Still, she smiled somewhat as he pressed the mug into her hands. She took a sip, and unfurled her rigid posture.

Tidus crawled into the space beside his wife and waited for her to speak. When she had finished half of the drink, she cleared her throat and spoke.

"I…don't know what happened."

"Me neither," he smiled without humour; it just wasn't like Yuna to act like that, even if it was just a nightmare. Sure, they still did have them from time to time, but never one so bad that they woke up screaming like that…

Yuna bit her lip, looking into the mug between her hands. "It just felt so real…"

"What did you see?"

Yuna shook her, head, a hand covering her mouth for a moment while she struggled to find words. Tidus raised a hand and stroked her hair while he waited patiently for her response.

"I saw shapes, and shadows…I don't remember much, but it felt so _cold_…everything was so clear like ice, and I could see everything! And then I woke up, and I can't remember it at all."

Tidus frowned, trying not to let his imagination run wild on this one. If he wasn't careful, he was going to work himself up over this – it might just be one of those night ghasts that people with an affinity for magic got from time to time. Many Shaman and Summoners suffered from them, something about the link with mana, pyreflies and the Farplane…Elodie knew more about that sort of thing.

"It just felt so real…I didn't know I was dreaming…" Yuna was shaking again, and he wrapped his arms around her slender shoulders.

"Just a nightmare," Tidus said soothingly. "It's gone now, whatever it was. It's okay,"

"No," she moaned. "No it's _not_ okay!"

For a moment he thought she was going to cry again, but the tears and sobs didn't manifest themselves – instead, she just trembled.

"What else is there?" he didn't like the sound of this one bit…

Yuna bit her lip again, refusing to meet his gaze. "You…you weren't there… I kept seeing that moment play out again and again, on the airship…"

Tidus felt his heart sink so low it disappeared into the ground. He couldn't lie; _he_ still had bad dreams about that day that made him wake up with a bitter taste in his mouth.

"And I believed it, like it was real and none of the last twenty years had happened…!" Yuna buried herself in his chest. "How could I forget that?"

"Calm down," he said steadily, fighting the panic himself head on. "Look at me," he took her hand and pressed her fingers against the vein in his neck. "I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere. See?"

Yuna looked up at him for the first time, eyes bright with tears in the dim light cast by the lamp. She slid her hand out of his and up to stroke his face, looking intently into his eyes.

"I know that."

"Promise," he said, smiling.

Yuna's lips twitched in response, but she didn't quite manage to smile back. "So vivid…" she murmured.

It may not have been the best thing to do, but he kissed her before she could voice any other thoughts. Tidus hated seeing her upset, as most people would do if their lover were this distressed. It was all he could think of at the time, but it seemed to make her feel better – even just a little bit.

"I'm sorry," Yuna smiled weakly, finishing her hot chocolate and setting it aside. "I didn't mean to scare you like that…"

"No worries," he kissed her cheek, pulling her back onto the bed and tucking her into his arms. "You deal with my spack attacks all the time! What makes you think I won't do the same for you?"

Yuna gave him a real smile, slapping his arm playfully. "_I'm_ supposed to be the level headed one in this family, it's _my_ job."

"Whatever you say dear," he simpered, pressing his lips to her temple. "Go to sleep, whatever it was is gone now. I'm right here,"

"Mmm," Yuna snuggled into his arms, despite the humid night air.

They didn't always curl up together during the night in the summer; it was always too hot to lie so close to another person. But tonight, Tidus was willing to make the exception.

Before he had a chance to drift off, he heard her murmur into the darkness, "I love you."

"Thanks," he sought her lips in the gloom. "I love me too!"

Yuna smacked him again, and suddenly laughed. It was like music to his ears.

"I love you, Yuna." He told her earnestly.

Her reply was to kiss him again.

XOXOX

"Let's go! To_day_, while we're _still young_ El!" Gippal growled, moments away from banging his head against the lintel.

He didn't know if he should laugh, cry, or just go bury his head in the sand; Elodie was just finishing her packing after finding her ever elusive tool kit, and the hover to take her to the Moon Flow was going to be taking off in fifteen minutes. Of course, this had to factor in pre-flight checks and locking the doors, so Gippal was anxious to kick her out of her new office and into the damn bucket of blots ASAP.

"Drek…!" El muttered darkly to herself, slinging everything in her bergen and racing for the door. "Bloody _stupid_…"

"Move it!" Gippal cuffed her round the head as they both turned to run down the hallway.

Eventually, they made it to the airship before it took off. There, they briefly met with Shinra, who handed her extra recording equipment before he ran off to start his next project for the whale migration that autumn. Then she was on the ship, and jetting off for another short-term research project on moss.

It made Gippal grind his teeth to think of the grief she had given him over the choice, but she had grudgingly obliged all the same. Now he just had to start on the paperwork that was slowly turning into a mountain on his desk. Even when he had settled down and found the right frame of mind for the damn task, his wife foiled all plans of productive work as she flounced into the office, swept the piles of paper aside, and settled herself onto the corner of the desk.

Giving her his best, most sarcastic look, he asked, "Can I help you?"

Rikku gave him her best, most cheerful grin and pointed at the window. "Guess who?" she trilled.

Gippal sat back in his chair, arms folded, eyebrows cocked quizzically, and tilted his head back so he had to look over his nose at her. "Why would I need to that if my darling wife could just tell me?"

Inspecting her nails and not missing a beat, Rikku said, "Rosie's making out with Tommi on the flight deck."

Gippal's blood boiled. "What!" he exploded, jumping to his feet and racing to the window. Stupidly, he had forgotten that the flight deck was not visible from this face of the building, and that Tommi had been transferred to the remote base up Gagazet with the Ronso to look at mountain goats. Glaring at his wife, he was about to give her a piece of his mind, when she jumped lightly to his side and pointed at something through the glass, finger on his lips and shushing him. "What?" he demanded again, and she took hold of his chin to lead his gaze.

What he saw on the gritty concrete of the walkway made him do a double take. His moping, grieving nephew was doubled over with laughter that couldn't be heard from this far away, while Bayla lay on her back looking dazed, a blitzball rolling away from her. She bounced up, grabbed the ball, and started gesturing to Dustin, also crippled with mirth.

Gippal almost didn't believe it at first, but as he watched, he recognised the way Dustin was smiling – just like his mother used to, and how Bayla was showing off exactly like her father did when he was trying to impress Yuna.

"What in the name of Spira…?" he groaned, throwing an arm across his face and trying to think clearly.

Rikku stifled a giggle and came to stand by his side. "Ah me!" she placed her hands over her heart and gave the corner of the room a longing look. "Young love!"

"Is this really the best time?" Gippal demanded, stomping back to his desk. If Rikku forced him to have 'The Talk' with Dustin, when they were both so emotionally frayed already, he was going to get more than slightly pissed off with his wife…

"Kai's been banging on about Vidina crushing on Yasmine. And Bayla was spitting blood about it the other day." Rikku said simply. "Unless our illustrious leader wasn't paying attention to such trivial matters,"

"Rikku," Gippal said, trying to keep a handle on his irritation. "I am an _extremely_ busy man running an organisation on research. I have seven children to think about, and one bereaved nephew, as well as keeping tabs on two other kids that aren't my blood relatives. I haven't got _time_ for tragic teenage romances!"

Rikku looked mortified, and Gippal was preparing himself to apologise and appease her to get her off his back, when she blurted out, "What do you _mean_ tragic?"

"Figure of speech," he waved it away. "My point is,"

"No, don't you just shut me down like that!" Rikku snarled, stomping over and slamming a fist down on the paper he was trying to organise. "What do you mean, _tragic_?"

Gippal looked up at her bright, fiery green eyes, unable to think of something that would calm her ire – but he was spared the trouble when Tarak raced into the room, panting and looking frantic.

"Gramps wants you in the main hanger, three engines just simultaneously exploded!"

Ire forgotten, Rikku ran down the corridor after him, and Gippal followed at a slower pace, fixing his gun in case of sabotage and needing to shot at someone. Maybe it was Nooj's paranoia wearing off on him (Baralai would have laughed at his precautions) but Gippal wasn't prepared to take any chances, not after the rumours that had trickled into his earshot around Luca.

XOXOX

"Quit it, ya!" Vidina shouted, chucking the blitzball at Bayla's head.

She yelped and dived out of the way before returning to her previous position and scowling at him. After that fire had broken out earlier in the day, everyone was confined to quarters until it had been ascertained what had happened. This meant her cousins were in a building on the other side of the compound, and her only company was Vidina down here; everyone else was either in the game room or asleep at this young hour.

"What you doing anyway?" she spat at him, moodily kicking the ball against the wall, missing the sphere screen by two inches.

"Writing letters." Vidina snarled.

"To whom?"

"My parents."

"That only requires one letter. What the hell you playing at?"

"Yasmine. If you _must_ know."

"Yes," Bayla growled. "I _must_ know!" she rounded on him. "She's my friend, and I have a duty of protection over her!"

"Piss off, Bay. It's none of your business ya? – don't get involved!"

"You're my big brother. I'll stick my nose in your business whether you like it or not!"

Bayla didn't even know why she was picking a fight with him; she could have gone upstairs and done some more note copying and then had a good nights sleep for the four o'clock start on Shulay's herb walk the following morning.

For some reason, heckling her best friend and strongest ally seemed to be the best idea she could come up with at the moment.

"Why you only just started taking an interest _now_?" Bayla said glumly, staring out the window and wishing she had Deka to talk to. "You've never given a crap about dating and stuff before."

"Because I've always liked Yasmine, and seeing her this summer after all those years reminded me just how much."

Bayla's jaw dropped. "What?" she demanded.

"Yeah. And if I'm reading the signals right, she likes me too. And she said you've been pummelin' her for information too. I will demote you if you don't stop interfering!"

"Oh yeah?" Bayla snapped. "What if I demote you first!"

"Go on then! Just stop botherin' me, ya?"

"All right then!" she got to her feet, brandishing her ball at him. "You're here by demoted to my fifth cousin thrice removed on my dad's side, and you're a shoopuff handler!"

Vidina looked up from the book he was leaning against to write in his lap, eyes wide and heart broken, and for a moment she thought she had gone too far with her demoting.

"On your _dad's_ side? That's harsh Bay! You don't love me then anymore…ya?"

"I'll think about switching sides when you stop being such a secretive jackass!" Bayla stuck her tongue out and stormed from the room. Intending to say something else, she spun on her back leg, but decided he wasn't worth the hassle, so she spun again to go up the stairs – and walked head long into someone on the first step. "Yikes!" she squeaked, nearly over balancing.

Someone grabbed her flailing hand and stopped her from toppling over backwards, but they pulled a bit too hard so that she was flung forward and landed between their knees on the stairs. Blinking, Bayla looked up to find Dustin sat back on the steps, looking as bewildered as she felt.

"Hi," was all she could come up with to say, while she mentally kicked herself.

"Hey," he said, equally dazed.

"What's goin' on?" Vidina demanded, charging out of the sphere room to find them in a heap on the staircase.

"Having a blonde moment," Bayla waved him away. "Piss off and finished writing your love letter to Yas."

Vidina stalked off, muttering darkly to himself, and Dustin helped Bayla to her feet.

"You know?" she said, dusting herself down. "We need to stop meeting like this."

Dustin snorted with laughter, and gave her a wry smile. Bayla beamed back; she was enjoying her time wasted with him instead of work, it was far more entertaining and fulfilling. And pleasant too.

"You eaten yet?" he asked, not making a move towards the kitchen.

"Yup."

"Oh," he looked crestfallen.

"I gotta go work…and sleep. Up at four tomorrow,"

"Ouch,"

They both laughed.

"Well, better get going," Bayla slid past him.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

"Fingers crossed," she gestured, expression gloomily.

Once in her room, Bayla tried to concentrate on herbs and salves, and not how she felt when she was around Dustin. She hadn't mentioned it to anyone, but she had the suspicion that this wasn't just a friendship brewing – Bayla had never felt compelled towards anyone like this, without the ties of family and friends to bind her. It was easy to be compelled Yas and Andi and that lot, and the same with Deka, Zuo, Vid and her parents. Elodie brought fun and games with her all the time, and Bayla had a place in her heart for her dear Uncle Wakka and Aunt Lulu.

But this just wasn't the same.

In true typical style, Bayla tried to bury the thought deeply before she crawled into bed. Her mind was already aching from her fight with Vidina and all the plant names she had to know for tomorrow – she didn't need Dustin in there too fighting for her attention.

XOXOX

Yuna knew it was a lost cause from the beginning; from the very moment her husband and son returned from training at the beach, there was no hiding her distress, yet she still persevered at it. Paine often said teasingly the reason Yuna seemed to pull through so often was because she just wouldn't give up on what she had picked up, and Yuna was inclined to believe that on a certain level.

But if the looks Tidus gave her over dinner were anything to go by, this time she had failed miserably. Deka chatted away happily about the dress she was making with Lulu, while Zuo tried to tell anyone who would listen about the dolphin he had knocked out with a back kick; Tidus floated in and out of the conversations with ease, and managed to keep a handle on the debate about politics when it cropped up.

Zuo was a firm believer in casting off and forgetting _everything_ about Yevon, while Deka insisted it was worth hanging onto at least some of the teachings – it could get rather explosive at times, especially when Bayla stuck her oar in too. Thankfully, no one asked for Yuna's opinion, so she was left to brood in relative silence.

Once they had finished eating, Deka and Zuo left to go play cards with some of their friends on the steps of the temple (it was the 'in' place for the youths to hang out) and Yuna collapsed onto the couch, yawning.

"Hey," Tidus chucked the dishcloth over his shoulder and slid down alongside her.

"What?" she asked innocently, hoping he would at least take a hint; if not completely not notice at all.

As ever with him, she hoped in vain; Tidus pulled back slightly so that he could look her up and down, before leaning forward to look searchingly into her eyes.

"It's nothing," she began, but he placed a finger on her lips, effectively silencing her.

"Liar." He said softly. "It's a something. A very _big_ something."

"One nightmare," Yuna huffed, trying to stand up to finish drying the dishes with the discarded cloth, only to find herself tangled in his arms.

"You're not sleeping well." It wasn't a question.

"Just a bad patch," Yuna tried to wave it away and get up, but Tidus wasn't having it. "I'm fine, really! It's nothing worth worrying about,"

Tidus didn't say anything, but a crease had formed between his eyes as he regarded her closely. "Sorry, not buying." He murmured after a moment of contemplation.

Yuna managed a smile, reaching up with her thumb to smooth the crease out. "I'll live." She told him eventually.

Tidus made a disgruntled noise at the back of his throat. He closed his eyes, face cast to the floor as he shook his head. Then he looked back up at her and said, "I don't like seeing you upset like this."

"I'll be okay." she insisted. "There's not much you can do to stop the dreams, anyway."

"I wish there was." He lamented, pulling her into his arms and resting his chin in the crook of her neck. "I _hate_ feeling helpless like this!"

Yuna smiled, and reached up to stroke his hair. "You do more than enough, believe me."

Tidus eventually let her stand up to finish drying the dishes; he followed her around the kitchen work surface, stacking and packing the plates and cutlery as she finished drying them. Not long after, the kids came home, and everyone retired for an early night. Any hope of worming away from Tidus' scrutiny was abandoned when he forced the mug of hot chocolate into her hands; Yuna did her best to give him a scowl, but it was difficult when he kissed her cheek and forcibly snuggled up with her on their bed.

"_You_," she said accusingly, setting the empty mug aside and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Are a _pain_."

He just kissed her on the nose.

"You're insufferable." She went on conversationally.

Tidus was fighting to keep the grin off his face by this point, and Yuna found it infectious.

"You're the most irritating…irritating man I have _ever_ had the – misfortune to meet. And I – stop it!" she smacked his shoulder, but it was too late.

Tidus rolled away onto his back, the whole bed shaking with his mirth. "It-!" he writhed, giggling uncontrollably. "It was – just-! …too much!"

Yuna slapped him again, but she was laughing as well. It was a while before they had both calm down enough to speak coherently, but finally the giggles died down and she curled up in his arms again.

Maybe – she thought to herself as he kissed her forehead – just maybe, this moment of happiness with him would staunch the nightmares, even if it were just for tonight. She couldn't hide it from him, how deeply they were affecting her, but she could spare him the deeper details – there was no sense in letting them both worry about what she saw each night, even if it meant that Tidus was instead left worrying exclusively about her well being and not the horrors she had seen in her sleep.

Tidus shifted, and with her eyes closed Yuna felt his lips against hers, and she responded lazily – focusing solely on this present moment in time. He pulled away, and again rolled onto his back, stretching out some injury he had sustained during training with the kids earlier. Smiling, Yuna followed him and curled herself into a ball at his side, noticing a large bruise down his side as she did.

"Where did this come from?" she asked, running a hand down the blotchy skin and casting cure against it.

"Tackle." He said simply, wincing as the wound healed unnaturally fast. "Zuo's gonna be unstoppable when he's older, if he can sneak past the referee…"

Yuna laughed. "Wonder where he gets it from?" she said aloud, kissing his cheek.

"Not a clue," Tidus said vaguely, hugging her tight.

Yuna sniggered.

"It's always _my_ fault, isn't it?" he whined, poking her in the ribs and making her giggle. "Whenever our kids do something bad, it's always me to blame. And when they do something good for the world, it's always because of you. How unfair is that?"

"Okay," Yuna tried to rationalise once he stopped poking her. "So let's think – what good points do the children have because of you?"

Tidus stared at her blankly. "Err…"

She giggled again. "You must have _some_ idea…?" she hedged.

"They're all dripping with good looks?" he offered.

"That can't be _all_ you," Yuna teased.

"No, I'm pretty sure the girls didn't inherit my boobs." He said with a straight face. The façade cracked when Yuna burst out laughing again, and they collapsed together in a heap at the ludicrous thought.

As the laughter died down, Yuna kissed him again, and Tidus in turn started playing with her hair. Things were starting to get just a bit steamy when they heard a frantic scrabbling outside their door, just before it creaked open. Yuna would have sat up if Tidus hadn't pushed her down again as he got up – an old, protective habit that often annoyed her. Deka scuttled into the room and straight into her father's arms with a squeak. They exchanged looks before gently trying to coax thief daughter into telling them what was wrong.

"I had a bad dream," she swallowed, teary eyed and shaking. "I was being chased by these huge black things that looked like coyotes, and they had red eyes! And- and- and when I got home you all turned into them too and you were trying to eat me alive! And-! And-!"

"Whoa," Tidus tucked her under his arm and deftly threw them both onto the bed, avoiding squashing Yuna in the process. "Calm down, Dia. It's okay, we're not gonna eat you! Look," he gestured at her slender body before lifting her arm up and pinching her elbow. "No meat – too stringy!"

Deka tried to laugh and sob at the same time, and gave herself hiccups for her troubles.

"Come on," Tidus slid her in between himself and Yuna, and she balled herself up beside her mother instantly. "Bunk with us. We'll keep the boogie man away."

Deka huffed loudly, sounding a lot like Yuna had earlier, and they both stifled a laugh.

"No one _else_ knows anything _about_ the boogie man." She said, trying to sound brave and succeeding in sounding merely sulky. "He only haunts the people who know about him. _Why_ did you even tell us about him!"

"Because father's are evil like that," Tidus grinned, kissing the crown of her head. "And besides! Mom's here to look after us,"

Deka looked up, grinning too despite the tear tracks on her cheeks. "Thanks." And she buried herself deeply in Yuna's arms.

Yuna smiled down at her, kissing her forehead and murmuring, "Night night, sweetie."

After a while, Deka's breathing evened out into a slow rhythm, and her tight hold loosened somewhat. Yuna poked Tidus to see if he was still awake, and he mumbled something about five more minutes and the fact that he didn't want beef casserole for breakfast. She was hard pressed not to laugh; Elodie and Rikku teased him ruthlessly about his sleep talk, and apparently Auron used to give him heated leftovers for breakfast from the night before when he had looked after him as a child. Beef casserole had significance, for all the negative reasons, and El never _ever_ let him forget it.

Hearing Tidus mutter in his sleep about such harmless, trivial matters from his childhood made Yuna drift to sleep with a smile on her face.

XOXOX


	10. Memoirs

**AN: I had intended to have this finished LONG ago, but it got pushed down the priority list by several things that cropped up in life :S I had hoped to have something finished by Christmas, but that didn't quite work out….**

**So yeah, hope everyone had a Merry/Happy Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa/Winter Celebrations (whatever your faith entails at this time of year) and may your New Year be bright and shiny and full of many good things! :D**

**And please do drop me a review, I'd like to hear your thoughts and feedback! :)**

_**Memoirs**_

"Well," Shulay said brusquely, dumping thick pile of papers in front of Bayla. "It seems New Yevon require our assistance."

Bayla pricked her ears at this; there were two ways of saying 'assistance' in Stroma, and the word her teacher had used described 'giving unasked for help' in so many syllables.

"Where are we going?" she asked, knowing that the 'our' included her as well. About a month of speaking in Zandal tongues had sharpened her mind to the language immensely.

"The heart seat of Yevon," Shulay said in a vague tone, wondering around her workshop and randomly pulling roots and leaves from the bunches on the walls with a sense of purpose.

Bayla neatly ordered the papers on the desk before her, and awaited further instruction. Her hands smarted with the memory of being whacked with a long stick when she had started meddling with things on the benches; she had since learnt to keep her hands to herself in this room.

"Dahh!" Shulay threw everything into a pile in front of Bayla. "You marshal this, I shall find you a pack." And left her to it.

Soon enough, after Bayla had neatly packed everything in an orderly manner, taking care to group like items together, they were heading for the first air shuttle off the island. It came as a bit of a shock to her, since she had resigned herself to the grit and dirt and searing yellow wastes of the desert for the foreseeable future; now she would see cloud scudded skies and the colour _green_ again. They were seen off by an ex-Crusader, who looked bored out of their mind as he waved them and the six other people into the shuttle.

Since it was a shuttle as opposed to an airship, they would be in Bevelle much faster, although it would still take a good hour – forty-six minutes if they were lucky with the wind. Bayla leant glumly against the glass and stared at the landing strip as they took off, wishing she had had a chance to tell Vidina where she was; he would have a panic attack if he thought she had gone missing.

Shulay moved her bindle aside to rummage through her own medical pack, and Bayla noticed a jumble of clothing inside, including her own pyjama shirt with the little shoopuff design she'd had since the ages of fourteen.

"Elder," she said formally, speaking in Stroma and avoiding direct eye contact. "Why have you brought sleeping garments with you?"

The woman gave her a withering look, and Bayla bowed her head in apology.

"We will stay for two nights."

"What?" she blurted out in Spiran.

"You speak in the tongue of your studies, girl." The Shaman chastised her, giving her wrist a sharp pinch to remind her where her linguistically loyalties lay.

"Yes, Elder one." Bayla said in a drone. Why hadn't Aunt Elodie warned her about this woman? Why had she even agreed to this, anyway? The only mildly good thing that had come from this was meeting Dustin and being with Vidina…

"I know you wanted to say goodbye to your friends," Shulay put a hand on her shoulder, and Bayla jumped more from the sudden kindly tone than anything else. "But I received word that the Yevon Praetor's daughter is somewhat unwell. You will now learn how to deal with a sick patient."

"But," Bayla said in Spiran – paused, swallowed her sudden anxiety, and proceeded in Stroma. "Shulay, the Praetor's daughter is my friend."

"A good starting place then. She will trust you." and the old woman left it at that.

Bayla tried hard not to huff, or sulk, or make any negative gesture to give away her disquiet. Now, not only had she taken off without a word and probably made her friends sick with worry, she also had to worry about her friend in Bevelle being ill too! This well and truly sucked…

Despite the thoughts whirring around in her head, Bayla must have fallen asleep against the window, because the next moment she was being shaken awake, and her movements and mind were sluggish. Shulay booted her off the shuttle with the bulk of their equipment, and lead the way from the docks up to the palace. Bayla remembered this place only vaguely from long ago visits her parents had made to see their old friends, but as they meandered further into the citadel, she remembered more and more – fun, happy memories of childish glee that were so far removed from her current task. It made her feel sad inside, to think that the remains of her childhood were being severed from her one by one as time and her studies wore on.

Not knowing what sort of welcome to expect, Bayla was glad when Baralai found them by a side door, and ushered them both inside before the trumpets could be brought out.

"Thank you so much for coming, on such short notice!" he said, performing the traditional greeting with Shulay. He smiled at Bayla and gave her a hug. "It's good to see you again so soon, Bayla."

Looking to her tutor, Bayla gathered that she was exempt from the ritual because she wasn't an initiated adult and held a position of little consequence in the hierarchy. It was at once a blessing and a curse of the Zandal society, since she was treated no differently for being the High Summoner's daughter, and yet her lineage on that side of the family seemed mostly forgotten in their eyes.

"Is Yasmine okay?" she asked desperately in Spiran, risking Shulay's wrath. The old woman seemed unfussed about this lapse in protocol, and instead pulled something from one of her pouches.

"I think so. She hasn't been sleeping well, but I think you already knew that." Baralai looked worn and tired this close, and Bayla wondered if _he'd_ need treatment too before they left. "I'll take you to her right away."

It took about three minutes to walk up the stairs and along a corridor to Yasmine's room, but it might as well have been forever to Bayla's patience. When the door opened Yasmine stood up, and Bayla found herself ducking under Shulay's arm, running for her friend and hugging her tightly.

Yasmine laughed, and smiled when Bayla stepped back to get a better look at her, but she certainly looked off; dark rings under her eyes, and her skin looked wan in the bight, late morning light.

"Are you all right?" Bayla demanded to know right away.

"Yes, yes…" Yasmine waved it away as though she had been doing that a lot recently, avoiding her eyes. "I'm fine. What about you?"

"Yeah, good." Bayla narrowed her eyes. _Just try and worm you're way out of this_… she thought to herself, not quite daring to threaten her while Baralai was in the room.

"Well, I must be off," Baralai said, checking the time. "I have a meeting with the Epoch representative downstairs. Will you be all right, Yasmine?"

She turned on her father with distinct irritation. "_Yes_, father."

Baralai gave her a small smile before leaving. Shulay wasted no time, and for Yasmine's benefit spoke in Spiran, which threw Bayla completely for a few minutes as she tried to remember the names and structures thereof for all the different plants and techniques for diagnosis.

"Show me your tongue." Shulay said briskly, parchment and charcoal at the ready with five oil pastels sat in the tin beside her.

Yasmine looked confused, so Bayla demonstrated over Shulay's shoulder, letting her tongue hang as far out of her mouth as she could. Yasmine imitated the gesture, giving Bayla a raised eyebrow until the Shaman began talking again.

"What do you see?"

"Err," Bayla shuffled forward and gave Yasmine's tongue a good once over before taking Shulay's stationary and sketching what she saw. "Thick coat, kinda yellowish…red tip…crinkly sides…" struggling between the different languages, Bayla showed Yasmine how to display the underside of her tongue, and quickly jotted it down before the colours started changing as the blood flow shifted. Then, she wrote a few notes in Zandal glyphs out of old habit, and looked up at her tutor.

"Well?"

"Slight infection, probably about to get a lot worse… Damp heat?" Bayla nearly breathed a sigh of relief when the woman nodded approval. "And a severe lack of energy." She concluded.

"Very good." Shulay said, with a rare smile. Then she showed Bayla how to feel for the pulses in the wrists, and made her sit with Yasmine for nearly half an hour feeling her left hand, before moving onto the right for a full forty-two minutes. "This is very important, pay attention girl! Now, you see how each one is different from the other?"

"Yes," Bayla was concentrating so hard she almost didn't notice Yasmine's tiredness until she was drooping on her shoulder.

"Tell me what organ's are affected by the body's plight." Shulay instructed.

"Move it, Yas," Bayla hissed, pushing her back into a sitting position.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

"Arms down, don't cross your legs. And keep still!" Bayla _hated_ feeling for pulses; she had practised on Kai and Vidina several times, but no sooner did she find just one of the three you could feel in each wrist, she lost all of them. It was extremely tricky to keep hold of them once you _did_ find one, and it was even harder to feel the 'sluggish', 'wiry', 'rapid' and 'watery' rhythms that Shulay could pick out with ease. However, Shulay had let slip that Elodie had had real trouble with this art, and Bayla knew for a fact that she was extremely good at it now; so Bayla could only hope that practise would eventually breed perfection.

Once she could feel the individual pulses beneath her fingers, Bayla jotted them down before they could move, change, or disappear entirely. Shulay checked them after she said she was finished, and made only two alterations to the numbers on the parchment. Bayla blinked, feeling stunned that she had actually got it right.

"So which herbs would you suggest and how shall she take them?" Shulay commanded.

Bayla rummaged around in the sacks and pouches until she had what she thought would work. The only correction Shulay had was to add another assortment of leaves to help keep Yasmine's lungs free of infection, and then she left to find some boiling water and a tea set.

When the two girls were finally left alone, Yasmine turned to her wide-eyed and said, "Is that your teacher?"

"Yup." Bayla said grimly. "Scary old bat, isn't she?"

"Wow." Yasmine helped herself to a glass of water on the bedside table. "No wonder Elodie's so good with travel medicine…she looks to be a right old dragon if she's angry!"

Bayla reflexively lowered Yasmine's hand that held the glass, and sighed at the look she got in return. "Don't eat or drink anything cold."

"Why?" Yasmine looked more curious than annoyed.

"Long story." Bayla said glumly. "You won't do yourself any favours,"

Yasmine was about to inquire further when the door opened, and a woman Bayla remembered vaguely came in with a tea tray. "Hello girls," she said brightly, setting the tray aside and began making tea. "These are Zandal herbs, aren't they? We have a Shaman wondering the herb garden's as we speak! Can't go wrong with a true medicine woman, can you?"

"Thank you, Tara." Yasmine stood up to help, but Bayla pushed her back onto the bed.

"I'll do it," she ventured, spooning Shulay's tealeaves into the teapot, and mixing the rest into a sort of powered sludge concoction. "That Medicine Woman will have my hide if I don't do this myself…"

Tara laughed. "She told me to see if you would do it of your own accord. She'll be happy to hear you did,"

"Bloody _stupid_…" Bayla snarled once the maid left. "Not a moments _peace_ with her! Why didn't I stay at home in Besaid where life was easy?"

"Because you moved on to bigger and better things," Yasmine supplied, slipping off the bed to watched over her shoulder. "Count yourself lucky that you could escape from home. I doubt I will ever be free of this place. What are you doing?"

Bayla distracted them both from their respective gloomy thoughts by explaining as best she could in Spiran what the plant extracts would do, and which parts of the body they would affect. Yasmine was intensely interested, and inquired after the rest of her studies; by the time Shulay came back they were both sat on the bed, and Yasmine had drunk most of the tea, now staring at the powered sludge that smelled like something that had started to rot without anyone noticing.

"Do I have to?" she asked quietly, obviously not wanting to offend the Shaman who was trying to help her.

"Yup." Bayla said darkly. "Pinch your nose. Here, drink this afterwards," she added, holding out a glass with clear, sun warmed water in it.

Yasmine nearly threw up when the stuff touched her tongue, and she gulped down as much water as the glass could offer afterwards, pulling faces and gagging into her hands.

"Icky, ain't it?" Bayla managed a laugh, knowing it would help in the long term.

"Oh _Fayth_!" she cried when Shulay packed up and went to see about the rooms they would be staying in that night. "It was disgusting!"

"It'll stop your lungs from contracting an infection." Bayla promised her. "I'll guarantee it on my life!"

"Don't you mean 'swear' on your life?" Yasmine asked.

"Err, I've been speaking in three different languages recently. I'm getting my translations mixed up." Bayla informed her.

"Oh. That must be so confusing,"

"Yeah, it is a bit. But anyway!" Bayla had far more pressing matters to discuss. "What's up with Vidina and all these soppy letters he's been writing to you?"

XOXOX

Yasmine was so grateful that Bayla had come to visit, even though her Zandal tutor was almost always breathing down their necks and insisting that Bayla make a full diagnosis and treatment plan before doing anything herself. But when she wasn't there, for a few brief hours they could just be the young adults they were; share gossip and give each other tips on hairstyling and opinions on clothes. Even the demands for information on Vidina's intentions was welcome – Bayla admitted at least once that she was being merely nosey, but had a handful of other excuses to back herself up on it.

On the second day, Shulay was asked to attend a meeting with a couple of other Zandal representatives, and left Bayla with instructions to do research in the library for a certain type of lotus flower that rarely bloomed in the north, if ever at all. Yasmine had been given leave from her own studies, so she accompanied her friend to the cavernous room and led her to the section in question. They found the information so easily they decided to stay a while and see what else they could find.

It was one of those odd things that just seemed to happen out of coincidence; Bayla wondered allowed what had happened to some old acquaintances of her parents, an ex-Summoner and Guardian duo, who had a child between them. Yasmine suggested checking the marriage and birth register in the section for current affairs, and they started wondering from one end of the long row to the other looking for _Lady Donna_ and _Sir Barthello_.

"Nope," Bayla chucked a book over her shoulder so that it landed in the trolley to be put back later. "She's not in here. Hey…" there was a gleam in her eye that meant they were about to embark on another mission. "I wonder if there's a register for Summoners? Yevon _must_ have kept records,"

"The temples did on an individual basis," Yasmine told her, thinking ahead. "When the Calm came, all the details were collected into one book. We have a copy here," so they set out to find it.

The book they were searching for was in the wrong section; it was bound in deep, burgundy coloured leather, and was immensely thick.

"Woah!" Bayla said, flipping the front cover open and listening to the thud it made on the wooden tabletop. "Is this thing full of details or just names? It must have every Summoner's name since Lady Yunalesca!"

The later entries had more information than the earlier ones ("Must be because the record keeping was crap just after the Machina War," Bayla concluded.). Towards the very end, they found Lady Yuna and her extensive list of Guardians, marked out as 'Traitor' and then 'Cleared of all Charges' before proclaiming 'HIGH SUMMONER omega'.

"Omega?" Bayla asked, tapping her mother's status inked into the page.

"Look," Yasmine showed her the very first page again. "Yunalesca is High Summoner _alpha_. It means first, and," she flicked through to the end again. "Last. The other High Summoner's had a sort of code name for the records too,"

"Wonder what else is on those shelves," Bayla wondered back and started pulling out drawers. "Wow, they've got artefacts and everything!"

"Careful, my parent's will be angry if we break anything. This is public property," Yasmine warned her, flicking through the pages to find the other High Summoners.

"Yeah, yeah," Bayla said vaguely, digging through the contents of the drawers with gusto.

Yasmine was just skimming through the dates she knew Lord Ohalland had ascended the Summoner's Podium, when Bayla gave a yelp of surprise from across the room. Yasmine rushed to see what was wrong, and found Bayla staring at something in one of the larger drawers right at the back of the section, one of the very deep ones that often housed show cases with old weapons in them. This one was full of papers, journals and spheres, and the plaque by the handles read, "_Omega High Summoner Pilgrimage – Memoirs._"

"I think…" Bayla looked amazed as she leant down and extracted a large, lethal looking blade from within. "I think this is my _mom's_ drawer."

"Of course!" Yasmine could have kicked herself. "Each High Summoner has a drawer devoted to them. There must be tonnes of items here from her pilgrimage!" it took a moment for her to remember that this news wouldn't have the same effect on Bayla as it would with most people – she had grown up, looking up to this woman as a mother, not a public icon. It would have far more sentimental value to her.

"Hey, is this…?" Bayla laid the sword out on the floor and ran a finger down the blade's flat side, before tapping the hilt with her fingernail. "It's not Sir Auron's katana, is it?"

Yasmine checked the contents list, and nodded. "Yes. Look! There's an old tent bag, water canisters, Al Bhed claw, two rods, a moogle…"

Bayla was more interested in the items that actually belonged to her parents, and hijacked the list when Yasmine couldn't find them. As they scrambled round the drawer they knocked over a cardboard box, spilling the dozen or so spheres inside out onto the bottom of the drawer.

"Drek!" Bayla cursed.

"Wow, so many!" Yasmine breathed. They exchanged looks. "Want to look at them?"

"Since when have _you_ been sneaky and underhanded?" Bayla teased, helping her to fish them out and laid them on the floor beside Sir Auron's sword.

"Thirteen," Yasmine counted out. "This one looks like a freeze frame sphere…" it was an old Al Bhed invention that worked sort of like a normal camera, except it only projected an image and couldn't be fixed to paper like a proper photograph. It was, in short, dead technology, as the image was trapped forever on the sphere and unable to go anywhere.

"Well?" Bayla demanded. "Switch it on!"

"Bay, it's nearly twenty-three years old! I don't know if it works anymore," Yasmine reminded her.

Somehow, they got it working again, and they stared at the images in silent awe as they clicked their way through them. The first few were of the Moon Flow, then Guadosalm before reaching Macalania and the Calm Lands. The ones following after that were from all over the place in no particular order, and almost all of them had at least one person in it, usually Tidus or El in a sneak shot.

"Bet Rikku took these," Bayla murmured, taking the sphere and flicking through the images herself while Yasmine started sorting the rest of the spheres. "She's in hardly any of them herself. Hey, look!" The image was of four people trekking across a stretch of boggy looking land, with a huge mountain rising above them in the distance. "That's my dad!" true, the young blonde man at the head of the procession was unmistakably Sir Tidus, followed by another blonde figure that had to be Rikku. Behind them were Lulu, and an unfamiliar man in a long red coat, following at a sedate pace compared to the stance Tidus held – as though he were running forward with great haste.

"What about the next one?" Yasmine asked, leaning over for a better look.

Again, it was Tidus, wearing the oddest clothes Yasmine had ever seen now that he was closer; he was sat on the end of an old log by a campfire, staring down at the bowl in his hands with a confused look on his face. Beside him was Yuna, looking at and talking to Rikku on her left hand side, while the same red-coated man was caught in mid-stride, the tails of his coat frozen in time with his step.

Yasmine reached into the drawer again and pulled out a plain, paper file with a stack of photographs neatly ordered inside. "Hey, look at these!"

They did; it seemed to be Rikku's flare for photography gone wild again, although that said it was probably the best and most realistic representation of a Summoner's pilgrimage you could find. There were pictures mostly of different campsites in various states of packing and unpacking, and pictures of Elodie bent over someone and tending to a fresh wound. One such photo showed her working on a nasty looking wound across Tidus' shoulder and collarbone; he was wincing and staring off to the side while Rikku watched on anxiously, a rag soaked in some orange-brown liquid in her hands, raised for Elodie to take.

"He's got a scar all over his shoulder," Bayla said, inspecting the paper closely. "Yeah…just there, he said a fiend that took a bite out of him near this gorge…"

Yasmine winced in sympathy at the thought. "What about this one?" it was decidedly more cheerful. "Fayth…Bayla, look!"

Tidus was standing with his arms folded, giving the camera a crooked smile. Rikku had an arm placed on his shoulder, the other held akimbo with one leg behind the other, balancing on the balls of her feet, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Yuna was standing sideways on to the camera on his other side, leaning forward slightly with her head cocked to one side, hands behind her back, a brilliant smile that Yasmine was well accustomed to on her lips.

"Jesus Christ…" Bayla said, eyes flicking between her seventeen-year-old parents smiling at her from the slip of shiny paper. "That could be _me_ in that picture! That's scary…" she looked to Yasmine for her opinion, and frowned at the look she was getting. "What?"

Yasmine had, however, found something slightly more pressing than the distinct likeness Bayla had of her parents.

"Did you ever cover Neo Christianity in history?"

"No." Bayla snorted. "I barely even know what Christianity is. Isn't it a forerunner of Yevon or something?"

"No," Yasmine frowned as well, trying to see were the links she had just found met. "It was a religion in its own right, and the main religion of Zanarkand before the Machina War. Yevon wanted to crush the heretic rebels, so Bevelle used it as another excuse to start the war. Anyone who survived that and Sin's rise would have joined the Zandal tribes in order to survive the harsh winters that followed, that far north."

"I didn't come all this way to be lectured by my best friend!" Bayla whined. "What's your point?"

"Don't you even know what you said just now about Christ?" Yasmine asked, exasperated.

"Huh?" she looked as confused as her father did in that projected image image.

"Argh!" Yasmine smacked her forehead. "If you don't know what it means, how do you even know the phrase full stop? And it's not supposed to be a curse!"

"What, 'Jesus Christ'?" Bayla cottoned on. "Oh, it's just something my dad says." She shrugged it off. "So? It's probably a Zandal thing,"

"No," Yasmine shook her head. "It isn't. According to the Christian teachings, Jesus was a powerful Holy Man sent by their deity to free his followers from their version of _Sin_."

Bayla stared at her blankly. "Oh."

"He was martyred for going against what the rival religions said, and his death coined the term _Christ_, so his given faith was called _Christianity_, and his followers were called _Christians._"

"How was _I_ meant to know that?" Bayla demanded. "Maybe my dad just knows a lot about ancient religions,"

"Um…" Yasmine bit her lip. "Bay, don't take this the wrong way, but you only learn about that sort of thing if you go to an institute like Bevelle with all the records held in one place. Christianity is over three thousand years old, and that's not the sort of thing a sports teacher from a place like Besaid would know."

"My dad isn't _from_ Besaid," Bayla argued.

Yasmine blinked. "Oh, I thought he was."

"Nope. Wakka'll tell anyone who'll listen about the first time they met; there was this blitzball practise, and…" Bayla was gearing up for another story telling session, but Yasmine was more interested in something else she had said.

"Wait, wait, wait! If he's not from Besaid, where is he from? I'd be interested to know where he got that expression from." She was expecting a full and detailed account about Tidus' birthplace and early childhood, but Bayla surprised Yasmine by staring at her blankly.

"I don't know." She seemed as amazed at this as Yasmine was. "He's never said."

"What?" Yasmine couldn't believe it.

"He doesn't talk much about his childhood, I just know he met my mom in Besaid just before her pilgrimage started, and they sort of hit it off from there." Now Bayla was frowning. "Weird, I never thought about it until now…"

"Hey, we could check the records," Yasmine suggested. "You know, the census? I'm sure there's more information about him there,"

They hastily stacked everything back into the drawer and dashed off to find the relevant records. Yasmine discovered them in a huge leather bound tome that needed the two of them to carry it to the table, and billowed out a huge cloud of dust as they heaved the covers open.

"Bloody hell," Bayla winced, sneezing loudly and clutching her throat. "Ouch…"

"Okay…" Yasmine started looking through the index. "Are we looking for a Spiran name or a Zandal Name?"

"Erm…try Tidus first and see what happens."

They both poured over the pages, and found him after a minute or two of searching; according to the records, his birthplace was the East side of Zanarkand, some thirty-nine years ago now, and he had been adopted as an oath brother by the Zandal Shaman Elodie à Stroma, with the given name _Tsu-tey Valarduh Oaklahnd Ne'er Lastra Mahn Jechetsson Stroma_. Additionally, at the time of the census, his marital status was 'engaged to Lady Yuna, daughter of Cissan', considered a son by the Al Bhed, and waiting in line for his tattoos to be completed. Beyond that, and the occupation stating 'Guardian' and then two years later 'Player for the Besaid Aurochs', and the religious alignment of 'Stroma Faith', there wasn't much else to garner from the census.

"What's the translation of his Zandal name?" Yasmine wondered allowed, trying to think more deeply on the information they had at hand.

"Err, something like…_Sunlight-on-the-sea's-waves_, _Protection_, _He-with-honour _, _The-Dreamer's-Oath_, _Son-of-Jechet_, _of-the-Stroma_." Bayla recited flawlessly.

"Wow," Yasmine breathed. "They don't half embellish their names, do they?" she managed a laugh.

Bayla shrugged. "They think Spiran names are dull and uninformative. All their names tell you something about them so you know what you're dealing with straight away. You should hear El's, it's bloody longwinded and hilarious!"

"Go on then," Yasmine giggled, dying to hear this.

"Right, it goes something like: J-airai Anarltuh Flaygraata Say-bowna Nellk Barr Stroma, which means _North-facing-Star_, _One-who-howls-Defiance_, _Keeper-of-the-Elder's-Flame_, _Blunt-One_, _East-Wind's-Daughter_, _of-the-Stroma_."

Yasmine laughed, more from the expression Bayla was pulling as she spoke the names effortlessly. "Very good! You have a superb memory,"

"Well, I do try my best." Bayla struck a dignified pose, making her look ridiculous. "But seriously," she went on in earnest. "What did this teach us? It doesn't make much sense,"

"How do you mean?" Yasmine frowned.

Bayla went back to her father's details, pouring over them intently. When she looked up, there was a crease between her eyebrows. "How'd he get from Zanarkand to Besaid without some wild and crazy story to tell? He could get a splinter from a fence and make up some crap about how he nearly died and escaped with his life. They didn't have airships back then, so the only people roaming round that far north _were_ the Zandal, but he's only a Stroma by right of initiation, not blood – he'll tell you that himself. He doesn't _look_ like any of the northerners, anyway. The closest Zandal tribe I've seen to resembling him is the western Lasia'austra."

"Sorry, I'm lost." Yasmine admitted.

"Oh, the blonde lot with the grey eyes and a fixation with crocodiles."

"Oh. Right then." She had nothing to say to that.

"But my dad isn't one of them! He doesn't fit neatly anywhere," Bayla frowned at the huge book in front of them. "How come none of this ever occurred to me before?"

Yasmine didn't know what to say to that. Eventually though, after Bayla had started flicking through the book to find more answers, she said, "Why don't you ask him when you go home to visit?"

Bayla paused in her searching. "I guess so…I dunno if its confidential or something…" then suddenly her eyes gleamed manically. "Hey, Yevon must have kept records about people _before_ your dad ordered a proper census, right?"

"Well, for places like Luca and Bevelle, probably." Yasmine conceded. "But everywhere else was always under siege by fiends, or Sin…they were probably destroyed so often the Temple Priests just let them lie in ashes. There wasn't even a proper birth register or marital record until four years into the Eternal Calm."

Bayla deflated. "Argh, Yas!" she whined, shaking her by the shoulders. "You're supposed to _help_ me, not make me feel like an idiot!"

Yasmine stifled another laugh. "Oh Bayla, it's not you! It's all those old Yevon priests not being considerate enough for your quest for knowledge! They should have known to keep better records for you,"

"Damn straight they should!" Bayla laughed as well. "Guess I have a legit reason for asking to go home to see my family then,"

"Sorry we couldn't find what you were looking for," Yasmine said gloomily a while later as they heaved the book back onto the shelf, and started for the doors.

"Meh," Bayla waved it away. "I think I'll live somehow. I always knew my dad was a weirdo, it's actually sort of comforting to know the records aren't there for everyone else to find out."

They were planning to exit the library in a calm and orderly fashion, but that plan when up the spout a few moments later

"Stop!" someone shouted at the tops of their lungs.

Yasmine and Bayla fairly jumped out of their skins, and Bayla grabbed Yasmine before towing them both behind a shelf at the end of a row. Completely thrown, Yasmine watched as the head librarian strode past at top speed, completely ignoring their hiding place.

"What the…?" Bayla began, but Yasmine elbowed her in the ribs.

"Ssh!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Father Zahid demanded.

"Ah, my good Sir," said a familiar voice. "I was hoping to be granted audience with Lady Yasmine,"

"And you thought the best way to do that would be to skulk around the library?" Zahid growled.

Yasmine was fixed in place, trying to remember a face that went with that voice.

"I was directed here by one of her tutors," the voice said pleasantly.

"Well, she obviously isn't here now. Please leave through the door you entered by,"

"Of course," there was a polite pause as though the person were bowing, and then swift footsteps towards the doors. Whoever it was causing Zahid grief took a route that by passed their hiding place, so Yasmine didn't get to see his face.

Moment later, after taking a deep breath and readjusting his robes, Zahid also left the library, the doors closing with a decisive crash. The stillness of the room was punctuated by the girls' breathing, and nothing else; they took one look at each other, and both bolted for the side door that would lead down towards the kitchens without a second glance.

XOXOX

"Look!" Tidus would have been bouncing with delight on the spot if he weren't sitting down with Deka in his lap. He brandished Elodie's letter at Yuna, before exchanging a high five with his daughter, both of them whooping loudly.

"What is it?" Yuna asked, dumping the basket of fresh fruit and veg on the table and taking the letter to read. "_Dear All_," she began before pausing to take a seat at the table itself.

"Yey!" Deka clapped her hands loudly, crowing with delight.

"Yey!" Tidus echoed her, giving her a bear hug. He was going to ambush Zuo the moment he got home from playing sphere break on the temple steps.

"It's gonna be amazing!" Deka squealed.

"Totally awesome!" Tidus grinned. In truth, it didn't take much to make him excited. This was just another thing he could easily get hyped up about.

"_I am writing to inform you that in two weeks time the whales will be passing through the eastern straits and bearing down upon Zanarkand, as the hunters conveniently pass through the area as well. Before we send our brave warriors off to help Nooj out we're holding a festival in the whales' honour._" Yuna read aloud. "_I understand if Lu and Wakka can't make it, but I expect my brother at least to attempt attending this amazing event otherwise I shall be forced to revoke his oath and send him to live with the rest of the social rejects of our people._" She gave Tidus a sarcastic look, and he smiled back at her innocently. "_All my love and affection and positive emotions in general, El_. Well, that sounds like fun, doesn't it Deka?"

"Yeah!" Deka jumped to her feet, crushing Tidus' kneecap in the process. "And she's gonna try and bring Bayla with her! It's gonna be so much fun, we'll get to go chocobo riding, and swim with the dolphins – and hear the _whale_ song!"

Tidus laughed, reaching up to stroke Deka's hair. "Hold your chocobos, Dia. We're not going just yet,"

"But Dad!" she whined, flinging herself onto the couch beside him and locking her arms around his neck, pouting.

"Go on, move it!" he gently disengaged her hands and pushed her away. "I need to write back,"

Deka bounced out of the house in high spirits to tell her brother, leaving Tidus and Yuna alone. He was still concerned about the nightmares she was having, and it was starting to affect his own sleeping pattern, but he refrained from pursuing the topic further. After she'd bitten his head off this morning for mentioning it in casual conversation, Tidus had decided to go and brood over it some more before confronting Yuna about it again.

Instead, he helped her sort the food and pack everything away before he took a piece of paper and a pen to the desk to write back to El. He couldn't be bothered with longhand writing, so he used a series of glyphs and doodled a group of stick people at the bottom of the page and a stylised whale holding a megaphone. Yuna rolled her eyes, but had to stifle a giggle as she walked past. Elodie would understand the joke, since she was the one who had started it in the first place; she used to draw charcoal pictures on stones and logs as they passed of what had happened, and her impression of Sin as a demented flying goldfish had had Tidus in stitches for nearly an hour afterwards.

"Well, then," Tidus stood, stretching his arms and preparing to send the letter off with all haste.

"What did you say?" Yuna asked, setting the tea pot down to come and investigate.

Tidus cleared his throat and recited his message in the closest Spiran equivalent. "Looking forward to this meeting, bring my daughter with you or I shall evoke dire retribution, hoping the studies of Moon Flow pond weed is to your entire satisfaction. We expect prime seats for this display! Love you with our collective heart, All." He looked to his wife. "Well?"

"Adequate," Yuna said flippantly, picking up the teapot again.

"_Only_ adequate?" he teased, rolling the paper up and tying a rubber band around it. "This is of course our mad crazed sister we are talking about,"

"She's _your_ sister, not mine." Yuna reminded him with a smile.

"Nuh-uh!" Tidus tapped her ear with his scroll. "You knew each other _way_ before I met you. _And!_" he added. "And, she made you my wife under Zandal Law. She. Is. _Your_. Sister. Too!"

"Oh, so you're not _my_ husband then?" Yuna retorted, trying to escape his hug when he dropped the letter on the counter.

"In Spira, yes I am," he grinned. "But to the Zandal, I was an official adult first. Ergo, _you_ are _mine_." He knew he was pushing his luck today, but Yuna smiled and kissed his cheek.

Zuo was somewhat apathetic at first about the whole affair, until he heard about the celebrations accompanying the whales' passage. He and Deka wouldn't stop talking for hours and hours, and eventually Tidus had to peel them from the table and throw them into bed to make them shut up. Yuna yawned widely and he innocently suggested an early night, fixing a cup of tea without looking her in the eye so she wouldn't guess what he was up to.

According to many conflicting sources, even if you don't remember having a dream when you woke up, you still dreamed something during the night; shaman had a herb that blocked the pathways in the brain from remembering anything as you slept. It didn't exactly give you 'dreamless sleep' but it was the closest equivalent as it blocked the brain's ability to make a memory of it as the dream unfurled.

Tidus felt only a small twinge of guilt when he gave the mug to his wife as they prepared for bed. She gave him a suspicious look, but relented when he genuinely sneezed.

"What's so funny?" Tidus demanded thickly, rummaging for a tissue.

"You always look guilty just before you sneeze." Yuna teased him.

"Do not!" he argued back, fighting a grin. Even though his nose felt most uncomfortable at the moment, he was thankful it had thrown her off his scent.

Yuna sat up in bed, sipping her tea while Tidus sorted his nose out. She had half finished it by the time he had crawled into bed beside her, and seemed more than willing for a cuddle – until she reached the dregs of her tea and caught the after taste the herb had left.

Looking scandalised, she dumped the mug on the bedside table and rounded on him. The innocent look didn't work this time, though Tidus tried his hardest to make it so.

"You-!" Yuna began, but her eyelids were already drooping, and before she could utter another word she slumped back against the pillows, completely out for the count.

Knowing he would be slaughtered the next morning, Tidus tucked her into a more comfortable position beneath the covers and kissed her temple.

"You know I'm doing this because I love you, right?" he queried the thin air above them, stroking Yuna's hair. His only answer was her soft breathing; long, slow, deep and regular.

XOXOX

"HEY!" Vidina boomed before launching himself from the kitchen table and straight at the person who had walked through the door.

Dustin looked up and felt his stomach do a back flip when he saw Bayla hugging him. She looked tired, but happy to be back – until Vidina aimed a punch at her stomach.

"Oi!"

"Where de _hell_ you been at, eh? Runnin' off without tellin' us!"

"I was kidnapped!" she snapped, shoving him out of the way. "Shulay," she spread her hands wide and cast her head back to howl at the heavens, "in her _infinite_ wisdom!" she let her arms drop to her sides and fixed Vidina with a glare. "Saw fit to drag me to Bevelle without warning!"

"Bevelle?" Vidina's jaw dropped, before he suddenly started demanding to hear what had happened and how Yasmine was.

Dustin got up, hoping to speak to Bayla himself, but Vidina took her full and undivided attention by hanging over her shoulder and pestering her with a constant stream of questions and jibes that roused her to answer and swear back at him. Dustin felt slightly better when she gave him a brief smile and a one armed hug with, "Heya," before she went back to bickering with Vidina. Eventually they left the room to go compare notes, something to do with Vidina's project that Bayla had found some information on in The Great Library.

Dustin was feeling somewhat hard done by when he heard someone speak from the doorway and jumped.

"Are me," Tarak said in Spiran with a sly smile. "Young love."

"Ex_cuse_ me?" Dustin snarled, stomping over to the stove where a pan of water was boiling.

"I see it in your eyes," his cousin said in a smooth, wheedling voice. "The self same look in the eyes of a love struck puppy as it wonders perilously after a wolf."

Dustin gave him his best withering look.

"Up a slope. With rocks. And a good chance of a landslide."

"Tarak," Dustin said, dropping the long brittle strands of spaghetti into the pot.

"Yes, or dear sweet cousin mine?" Tarak said, slipping his arms around Dustin's shoulders and giving him a loving squeeze.

Every fibre in his being screamed in disgust and protest at the contact.

"Piss off."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you!" Tarak gave him a huge kiss on the cheek before flouncing off towards the door.

"EWW!" Dustin frantically clawed at his face to rid himself of the sensation. "You sicko!"

"Bayla's a nice girl, but don't let her fool you," Tarak was enjoying winding him up. "Playing with her is like playing with fire. You know the burns I got on the back of my right leg?" he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the direction Bayla had gone. "That was _her_."

"Good," Dustin said savagely. "You deserved it you prick!"

Tarak raised an eyebrow. "No need to be so violent, now!"

"No need to be such an ass. Piss off,"

Tarak made a show of rolling his eyes and flopping past the threshold towards the nearest sofa with an exaggerated groan. "Dear oh dear…" he said in Al Bhed.

Dustin went back to his cooking with renewed vigour, cursing to himself softly. When Tarak returned, it was with Kai and Bayla, which made his presence bearable. It came as a great surprise when Bayla presented Dustin with a small wrapped package she had bought before leaving the citadel; inside the bright red paper was a thick stick of nougat with chopped almonds.

"Wow!" he was unable to believe it, that Bayla had remembered him saying he really liked nougat as a throw away comment in a conversation ages ago. "Thanks,"

"No worries!" Bayla grinned before spinning on her back leg and pelting Tarak with something.

He yelped and hid under the table before crawling out to take his bounty – a collection of lemon and orange flavoured gobstoppers. "Aww mate!" he grinned, trying to fit three into his mouth at once. "I _lurve_ citrus!"

"Please tell me you put a laxative in there or something?" Kai said in a whisper behind her back.

Bayla leant over and murmured in an undertone, "I'm working on a potion I intend to give him before the winter festivities. That'll get the git out of our hair…"

"But not in those gobstoppers?" she asked, crestfallen.

"Not yet. The only thing I can get my hands on at the moment to use would kill him cause he's severely allergic."

"…So?" Kai asked, deadpan.

Dustin and Bayla sniggered. "Uncle Gip would _kill_ me."

"Fair point."

XOXOX

A solitary pyrefly floated through the air, twisting and turning like a delicate, glittering snake. As it floated up through the darkness a shadowy figure sat cross-legged on a bare stretch of earth that hung in nothingness of the Farplane. The figure stared into the emptiness ahead, a frown of deep concentration on their brow.

This meditation was shattered when a voice echoed out from behind, and a series of bright lights zoomed together to form another person who clapped the first heartily on the back.

"Auron!"

The first figure grunted and looked away.

The second sat down beside him and punched him in the arm.

"Must you sneak upon people like that?"

He gave Auron a wild grin. "It's fun."

"Hmmph."

"So…what you up to, all alone, out here, in the middle of nowhere?"

"Jechet…" Auron sighed.

"You felt it too?" the joking air dropped instantly, and Jechet became gravely serious.

Both men were not so old in appearance, but carried with them the weight of the experience of years in their eyes. Both were dark haired, although Auron had a badger streak with grey flecking the rest of his hair; Jechet had a roughly shaven beard that he had had for many years in this place, unable to grow or shave it off once and for all. They still wore the same clothes they had done years ago.

Auron gave Jechet an appraising look before saying, "Yes. And Braska?"

"He's worried. The holes to the chambers of the fayth were sealed up ages ago, but more and more pyreflies are gathering at the entrances, and the aeons are getting restless."

"Ahh," Auron sighed. "No rest, even in this place…"

"None for the wicked," Jechet sniggered.

"_Jechet_," Auron said in a warning tone.

"Just messin' with ya," he bumped his knuckles against Auron's shoulder. "What you reckon we should do about it?"

"Nothing. That is for the living. We have no right to return to Spira."

"Couldn't we just…?" Jechet began, but he was cut down.

"No."

"But if we just-"

"_No_."

"Oh come on!"

"Jechet, no means _no_."

Jechet scowled and shuffled round so that his back was to Auron's, glaring a hole through the scuffed earth by his feet. They say in rigid silence for quite a while before Auron relented.

"I know you feel frustrated, and that you want to go, but its too risky."

"What's life without a bit of risk?" Jechet said carelessly.

"That's the point," Auron snapped, exasperated as they went through the same argument yet again for the _third_ time that day alone. "We are _not_ living. We have no place in their world anymore."

"My son does," Jechet said sulkily.

"Your son did not die." Auron said ruthlessly, and then relented somewhat when he felt his friend wince. "Your body died. You could not return to Spira as he has. And the Fayth cannot contain every person who ever lived in the dream Zanarkand and let them live in Spira – the drain on their power would be too great. Tidus could return because of the impact he left on so many lives, and the love he inspired in his friends."

"I know, I know," Jechet sighed, massaging his temples. "And I'm proud of him, but…" he cast around helplessly. "I just…"

"It would be best not to dwell on those thoughts," Auron said warningly.

"I'll dwell on whatever the hell I want." Jechet snapped.

Auron was about to retort when another, softer gathering of light appeared in front of them. They both got to their feet as the image of a young boy shrouded by a hood shimmered and solidified before them.

"Greetings," he said politely, looking from one to the other.

"Hello,"

"Hey," Jechet raised his hand in greeting. "Wassup?"

"A great many things." Bahamut said sagaciously. "Starting with the Zandal prophecy."

"Say wha…?"

Auron fought not to roll his eyes. "Listen."

Bahamut nodded, more to himself than everything else, and said, "This year the planets of the solar system align themselves, and the Pilanel tribe shall be handling the festivities. This also marks the opening of a gateway for the first time in over a thousand years."

Jechet cocked his head to one side. "A gate? Like a garden gate?"

Auron snorted derisively.

"No. A gateway made of stone, hidden from prying eyes and ill intent for millennia. There was a tablet writ in the original Zandal tongue for those who would keep the place it hid safe, but the tablet fell out of the Shamans' knowing, and into the wrong hands. There are those who would seek to use the terrible power hidden within to enslave Spira."

"So, let me get this straight," Jechet asked. "So there's an evil dude running around wanting to enslave the world for his own amusement and not because he thinks that by destroying all life he is saving and preserving it?"

"Correct," Bahamut lowered his head in acknowledgement.

"I've had enough of misguided and flawed villains," Jechet snapped in response to Auron's raised eyebrow. "It makes things boring."

"But no less dangerous." Bahamut interrupted; his tone was calm, but there was a gathering sense of urgency in his words. "There is one who seeks this power, and he is working closely with his son, who despite his loyalty does not see eye to eye with him. The fractious nature of their alliance will destroy either one or both of them."

"Good riddance," Jechet said gruffly.

"Spira is in danger." Bahamut said bluntly, looking from one man to the other gravely. "These people have weapons unlike anything else seen since the Great Machina War. The only individuals immune to their effects are the unsent, and those touched by the Fayth. That is," he explained in answer to the confused looks he was given. "The Dreams of the Fayth, and the Summoners. The only way to prevent them from fulfilling their plans is to send a select group of people to Spira."

"Select. Meaning…?" Jechet's eyes seemed brighter than they had for a long time. Auron inwardly groaned.

"If you would both accept our plea for help, and the Lord Braska as well. We have also considered bringing a pair who were not quite a part of the Dream Zanarkand, but who still have been intertwined in Spira's fate before, and who have been touched as well by that power that gave rise to the fayth in the first place. They will also be immune to these weapons."

Auron and Jechet exchanged looks.

"We'll have to think about it." Auron said stoically.

"Indeed we do," Jechet nodded in agreement, folding his arms and contemplating the ground beneath his feet. "Okay I'm done. Let's go!"

Bahamut chuckled. "This decision cannot be made lightly, though the sooner the better. Think on it a bit more before you give us your final answer," and with that he shimmered and faded into the darkness.

Jechet and Auron exchanged look, and Jechet grinned broadly. Punching Auron's arm, he shouted, "Race you back to the spring!" and burst into an array of scattered lights before he vanished from the scene as well.

Auron scowled, but allowed himself one deep-throated chuckle before he too departed from the rock, preparing himself to marshal Jechet's unruly nature back into order.

XOXOX

"Oooh, this sounds like fun!" Rikku brandished a letter at Gippal.

He took it with a sigh and unfurled the paper so as to read what was written there. Yuna's neat, slanted handwriting met his gaze, telling him that she and Tidus would be visiting the base before going on to the Stroma territory for the whale' festival.

"What about the twins?" Gippal asked, dropping the letter onto his desk, more concerned about finding his best screwdriver.

Rikku tutted loudly and picked up the letter, clearing her throat. "Elodie will be needing to pick up some supplies for us in Luca anyway." She informed Gippal. "The kids'll be there on a ferry from Besaid and she'll pick them up and meet up with Yunie and Ti at the last outpost before Gagazet. Then they'll all go on together from there. Alright?"

Gippal shrugged. "You seen my screwdriver?"

"Yes, Tarak was using it."

Gippal suppressed a snarl; this just wasn't shaping up to be his day…

"You _do_ know what this means, right…?" Rikku hedged.

Gippal gave her a sarcastic look. "No. Enlighten me,"

"The High Summoner, coming to visit the Al Bhed? Pomp and ceremony – any of this a'ringing a bell?"

"Oh," Gippal stared at her blankly. "Yeah, yeah of course…Yes," he started scribbling down instructions on pieces of scrap paper. "Give these to the kitchens, and this one to the cleaning crew, would you? They can have the guest suite in the northern set of rooms."

"Make it the East." Rikku said, scribbling her own amendment onto the paper.

"Why?" Gippal asked, not really caring as he struggling to find a replacement screwdriver.

"Yunie likes watching the sunrise," Rikku said smugly.

"Yeah yeah," Gippal waved it aside. "I'll deal with the cleaners later. We can fix on arrangements then, but right now I need my screwdriver…"

Rikku left him to it, and went off to find Bayla to tell her the good news. As she had predicted, the girl was over the moon and babbled excitedly about it for a few minutes with Rikku until Shulay stumped over looking grave.

In Stroma, she said, "Come with me, Child. We have much to do."

Bayla stared at the aging lady blankly. "Where are we going?" she asked in Spiran, then winced automatically as though she thought she would be smacked like a petulant child.

Shulay pinched her ear painfully, and Rikku wondered whether she should step in before remembering the brief Elodie had given her about the old Shaman's teaching techniques. Even so, Rikku felt like she had failed Bayla as she was berated for her slip of the Tongue, and was carted off to look for supplies for a desert exertion.

Deciding on an early meal and an early night, Rikku went to the canteen where she bumped into her husband again, who had a piece of machina on the end of his tray that he was playing with in between mouthful's of food.

"Don't you _ever_ stop working?" she sighed, thinking about how she had abandoned her niece to the will of a bad tempered old woman.

"Nope," Gippal said simply, pulling wires out and clenching them between his teeth.

"And do you mean to electrocute yourself?" Rikku snapped.

Gippal raised an eyebrow, and let the wire go gently so that it didn't make a noise against the tray. "What's wrong with _you_?"

Rikku sighed, and confided in him the guilt she felt at leaving Bayla as she had. It irked her when Gippal laughed, but his words were comforting, "It's just a bit of character building. If Shulay were a bad person would we let her stay and work here with us? And would El have recommended her so highly? Bay's fine."

Hoping he was right, Rikku finished her meal quickly and began helping him to fix his broken piece of Machina while Gippal gratefully ate his own at a slower pace. Outside the compound night fell quickly – more quickly than usual for this time of year, and though Rikku could not say for sure what it was, when she stepped outside again to go back to their quarters, it felt like a finger of ice was running its way up her spine. Nothing around her was out of the ordinary, nothing to send alarm bells ringing. And yet, something felt amiss, though it was only a feeling, and feelings were usually discounted in the normal course of the bases security.

It was with a queasy feeling in her stomach that Rikku drifted into a dark and restless sleep that night.

XOXOX


	11. The Whale Song

**AN: aaaahaha late up date xD I feel ashamed of myself…**

**I think it safe to say updates will be sporadic at best for the next few months, but I promise I'll work on them whenever I can :)**

**So! please read, drop me a review let me know what you think – I really appreciate it when you guys give me feed back :)**

_**The Whale Song**_

Bayla was the cheeriest Dustin had ever seen her; two days after she came back from Bevelle she was bursting with news that her parents were visiting the following week. She and Vidina were both very excited, until he remembered that he wouldn't be seeing the whales with her, and started lamenting long and loud over his loss. Far from rubbing it in, Bayla bounced around the dorm building crowing about her parents.

Dustin would have liked to have talked to her a bit more, curious to learn more about her family apart from the basic facts that he already knew; sadly Shulay had other ideas, and they ended up in the desert on a trek for nearly five days looking for a rare flowering cactus before the rains came. When she finally tottered back into the dorm building she collapsed on a sofa and fell instantly asleep, and Vidina forbad anyone from waking her up. In the end he had to scoop her up and dump her on her bed, throwing a blanket over her as he went, because people complained about hogging the sofa.

They didn't see Bayla the next day until late in the evening when she was sat at the kitchen table, nursing a bruised forehead and looking the worst for wear. Apparently, she had had to defend both herself and her mentor from _three_ lesser drakes, while trying to harvest the sap from a disagreeable cactoid plant.

"Look!" she said weakly, showing the places on her hand where the needles had resisted her most violently in an attempt to save it's precious reserve of sap. "I'd rather have visited the cactuar nation…but no. We went on a mad goose chase in the middle of _nowhere_ in the Sanubian desert!"

Vidina for once did not torment, her, but instead pushed the soup Dustin had made towards her, and she attacked it with almost indecent enthusiasm.

"Someone's hungry," he joked, recoiling from Vidina's glare.

"Ah!" Bayla sighed with relief once she had mopped up her bowl with a piece of thick, crusty white bread. "Dustin, you are an actual life saver and I shall bow down and worship you as the one true god if you let me have seconds." The pleading look in her gaze made him laugh uncomfortably, since Vidina was now watching him with a detached, calculating expression. "Thank you!" Bayla said gratefully when Dustin dished out more soup for her.

"Here," he said, handing the bowl back to her.

Vidina cut another large hunk of bread for Bayla while she slurped her second helping with more restraint.

"Fayth…I can't tell you how glad I am to eat _actual _food again!" Bayla sighed with content, resting her forehead against the table and pushing her bowl away. "Two crackers, some cheese and a water biscuit. With three dried pieces of fruit. Every friggin' meal!"

Vidina clapped her on the back, making her head butt the table. "Could be worse, ya?"

"Yeah, I could look like you." she said glumly, looking straight ahead at the table in front of her nose.

"Bitch."

"Slag,"

"Loser!"

"That _seriously_ the best you can come up with?"

"Gimme a break, ya? I spent the whole day stuck under a hover trying to fix the wiring! I don't know _anything_ about hover wiring,"

"I've been in the desert!" Bayla sat up straight and winced as she felt the effects of a head rush. "You've got no right to complain!"

"You _slept_ all today and last evening!" Vidina said hotly.

"Because I was in the desert!"

Dustin sat calmly and waited for their argument to blow itself out. Soon enough, they were both too tired to care, and the subject turned back to Bayla's parents visiting the day after tomorrow. He listened to them talk, enjoying the companionship without having to actively participate in the conversation – something he was growing accustomed to, even beginning to feel comfortable with.

Eventually, however, Bayla nearly fell asleep where she sat, so the two boys escorted her to her room, where she flopped onto her bed without a word and buried herself under the covers.

"Night, ya spack." Vidina said cheerfully.

An inaudible grunt was their only reply.

Again, Dustin didn't see Bayla the following day until the evening, and then it was only in passing, as she was intent of having a bath and then writing up her notes from the trip into the desert. She sat splayed on the floor beside Rosie with a long thin paintbrush and a pot of ink, apparently trying out a new technique of writing that Shulay had suggested to her.

The only words Dustin exchanged with her that evening were, "And how's it going?"

"Terrible," Bayla said, dismayed by the large inkblots that blighted her notes.

During the day the latest gossip had reached Dustin's ears; according to (reliable) sources the High Summoner was visiting the base, and it was all anyone in the art rooms wanted to talk about.

"Really? She's making a public appearance?" one girl asked excitedly, spraying her neighbour with green paint.

The Guado youth wiped the paint off calmly with a rag and said, "What's so special? She made an appearance at the tournament this year, its not like she's retired from the public eye completely."

"When was the last time she made an official visit to…well, anywhere?" asked another boy, scrubbing his paintbrushes vigorously in the sink.

"She's related to Cid, _that's_ why she's coming here." Said the oldest art student sagely, borrowing Dustin's can of fixative to spray over his charcoal drawing. "To say hello. She's also got Zandal connections, so she's going up north to take part in the lunar celebrations."

"The _what_?" someone demanded.

Someone else chipped in. "That thing about planets and stars being in a long line – it's supposed to be important to the Zandal, and the Pilanel tribe are taking control of the festival,"

"I thought Lady Yuna's guardian was a Stroma?"

"Yeah, he was."

"No, the Zandal was a woman," someone argued.

"How do _you_ know?"

The boy swelled to his full and considerable height over the girl who had challenged him, and she shrank back at once. "Lady Yuna and her guardians' saved my grandfather from being crushed by Sin, before The Calm began. He said that the Zandal warrior with them was a woman."

No one seemed to want to contest this fact, since even this far on from the days of old Yevon and Sin, many people still felt the effects of the pain that had been inflicted.

Dustin said nothing; taking his spray can back in silence and getting on with his own sketch, he tuned out the arguments that ranged back and forth like a blitz rally – always the same points and excuses repeated over and over as if by repeating it enough times, everyone else would accept them.

That evening, again all he saw of Bayla was the top of her head buried inside a book. When asked, she said, "I've been given two days off with my parents if I can read this and write a conclusion on it by tomorrow morning." She gave him a guilty look. "I'd love to come hang out, but I have _got_ to get this done,"

So it was by himself that Dustin sat and tuned up his guitar, ignoring the niggling little thoughts that were slowly forming a dark cloud over his head, letting the brief happy bubble he had found in life burst and cover him in the dark, painful memories he had managed to suppress so far. After nearly an hour of this inner torment, he seriously considered trying to knock himself out cold to relieve himself, but he didn't fancy trying to smack himself round the head with his guitar, or run head long into a wall.

In the end, he managed to get some medicinal tealeaves from Bayla. She insisted on giving him an examination first – checking pulses, tongue, eyes and sleeping patterns. In ten minutes she had scraped together a handful of leaves and herbs and instructed him on the proper brewing of them, going as far as to do it herself to make sure he didn't stew them too long and put himself in a coma, or leave it too little and make himself hallucinate.

"Nasty business," Vidina scowled at the smell of the tea in the mug she passed to Dustin.

After a quizzical look, she mumbled, "Shulay made me brew it incorrectly so I could feel the effects first hand. Watching a pink and purple crab dancing the Cha Cha Cha on your bed singing Kilika sea shanty's isn't something I'd wish on my worst enemy."

"Why?" Dustin asked, unable to think straight for a moment as this admission had made him momentarily forget why he had wanted to pass out in the first place.

"Cause you can't stop the visions until the substance leaves your blood system, and that takes _at least_ twelve hours." Bayla said earnestly. "Do you _want_ to stay awake seeing things that aren't there? This stuff acts on your deepest subconscious; anything that's lurking at the back of your mind – whether it's happy or bad or whatever – will manifest itself to your conscious mind in the most vivid way imaginable! It's bloody _terrifying!_" she added when he made no move to acknowledge this.

"Err," Dustin bit his lip, not knowing what to say.

"Erm, Bay?" Tarak asked. "If that stuff acts on your deepest darkest fears…_why_ pink and purple crabs?"

Vidina surprised them all by bursting out laughing, so hard in fact he slid from the sofa onto the floor and lay there struggling for breath, shaking weakly.

"You don't want to know…" she said darkly to Tarak. Then, turning her full attention back to Dustin, she said, "Just don't risk it." She tapped a nail against the side of the mug in his hands. "It's brewed enough that the stuff will knock you out, but the toxins haven't built up enough to put you in a coma. Look," she took a little strip of pink paper that turned white on contact with the tea, and showed it to him. "That means it's safe as a sedative. Go on, you look like you could do with a good sleep,"

Surprised, and touched by her concern, Dustin tottered back up to his room in a daze, leaving Bayla to pour over the parchment with which she was marking in pencil about the book. But no sooner had he closed the door, the reasons for wanting to knock himself out came flooding back, and he downed the tea in a single, prolonged gulp. That was a mistake, because no sooner had the warmth trickled down his throat, he felt its effects at once, and barely made it to the bed before he slumped unconscious, without any thoughts or feelings – no fears and worries or guilt; just blissful oblivion.

XOXOX

The next morning dawned cool and damp, which rapidly became hot and unbearable as the hours progressed. Dustin woke up with a clear head and an unsettlingly calm demeanour. He breakfasted and went for a wonder around the base, before running into a group of excited looking girls all wearing the yellow of the Aurochs. They giggled as he passed them, and he caught a snippet of their conversation.

"He's gonna be here, isn't he?"

"I know! I mean, it's wonderful about Lady Yuna visiting and all, but-"

"_Sir_ Tidus is more relevant to _our_ generation!"

"But still, don't you think the Lady…?"

After that the wind carried their voices away along with the sand at their feet, but they had reminded Dustin of the High Summoner's visit. And today Bayla's parents were visiting, too. Though he would have liked to meet her family more, the thought of an audience with Lady Yuna, even if from a distance…

Despite his disparaging thoughts of her at the tournament, Dustin figured meeting her would be a pretty cool experience. After a little recon work, he found the airship that would be bringing them was to arrive in half an hour at docking bay 1. With that in mind, Dustin grabbed an apple and set off to wait with a sketchpad and a pencil in his hands.

The image of a bent and wispy savannah tree was coming along nicely when the low thrum of an airship reached his ears. Dustin dropped his things and launched himself at the top of an outcropping of rock from where he had a good view of the bay. Ten minutes later the airship dropped out of the sky and landed lightly within the marked circle on the tarmac. The first three people to get off were crewmembers, and then the next were five other passengers. By this point Rikku and Gippal had arrived and were waiting to welcome their guests, looking more excited than he had seen them in a long while.

Dustin scanned the other exiting passengers, wondering who could be Bayla's parents; the only man who wore Zandal tattoos looked to be part Guado from this distance, and she had never mentioned Guado blood in her family before. And yet she had said her father wore several tatts in honour of his adoption…

And then, from within the ship, emerged a figure he had seen once before on the sphere screen of a small café. Dark haired, slender and graceful, the High Summoner walked into the sunlight, accompanied by a tall blonde man that also looked vaguely familiar. Rikku squealed and rushed towards them, enveloping both in a bone-breaking hug. Uncle Gippal followed, also grinning, and slapped the man on the back with a laugh that carried over to Dustin's perch.

And still Rikku made no move towards any of the other passengers…but Bayla had said that she was related to Rikku in some way, hadn't she?

"I don't get it…" he murmured allowed.

"Get what?" someone barked in Al Bhed, and Dustin jumped out of his skin.

He spun round and saw it was just his cousin Tarak. "What are you doing here?" he demanded angrily.

"Come to see my aunt," Tarak shrugged, eyeing him narrowly. "And I saw you skulking round up here, and I figured I should come see you first. What are you doing up here?"

Dustin suddenly felt that his reasons were entirely inadequate. "Err…"

"Come to take a sneak look at the High Summoner?" Tarak teased.

"Bayla's parents, actually." He said defiantly.

Tarak snorted with laughter. "What's the difference?"

It was Dustin's turn to snort. "What you on about?"

Tarak raised an eyebrow. "You playing stupid or something?"

"What do you mean?" Dustin asked irritably. What the hell was he on about?

"High Summoner," Tarak jabbed a thumb at the group of adults making their way indoors. "Bayla's mother. The difference is…?"

Dustin stared at him, nonplussed. "What do you mean?" he asked again, less aggressively.

Tarak stared back at him before an expression of brief horror rose to his face. "Shit!" he clapped his forehead and avoided his gaze. "You mean she didn't tell you?"

Dustin's stomach seemed to have disappeared at these words. "What?" he asked weakly, leaning against a rock for support.

Tarak gave him a sincerely apologetic look. "Sorry mate, I thought you knew."

"Knew what?" he demanded, his anger flaring again at the lack of information.

Tarak took a deep breath and said to Dustin's boot, "Bayla's mother is _my_ mother's cousin. The cousin that defeated Sin twenty-two years or so ago. Lady Yuna. I…I thought she'd told you."

Dustin's stomach seemed to have returned; only now it was full of lead.

"Why…why didn't she tell me?" he asked, feeling wounded. He didn't even understand why it hurt to think she held withheld the truth like that. "Who else knew?"

"Err, _we_ did," Tarak gestured to mean he and his siblings. "Cause obviously Aunty Yuna's family, so we'd know. Bay and Vid grew up together, so he knew as well…" then, speaking quickly as though to defend Bayla he said, "But she said she wasn't going to put it out who she was when she got here, cause she wanted to be known as the girl who was good at art, not the High Summoner's daughter, but…all the same, I've seen you two hanging out together, I just…" he shrugged helplessly. "I thought she'd told…"

Dustin took a deep breath and said, "Fine." He walked back to his sketchbook, picked it up and walked away. "Fine…" he muttered under his breath.

It was illogical and irrational to feel like this – Bayla had never shown him any preference except to request his cooking skills, after all. And yet, why did he feel like he had been betrayed? None of it made sense…

XOXOX

"MOM!"

Yuna spun round in time to have her eldest daughter crash into her. Laughing, they pulled apart to get a good look at each other. Bayla was nursing a bruise on her forehead, that Rikku had already explained away, and a bandage around her left upper arm – but aside from that, she looked healthy and happy.

"I missed you!" she squealed.

"I missed you too, sweetheart," Yuna crushed her to her chest with a contented sigh. She had felt a mounting anxiety for Bayla that had now been dispelled by her so very apparent good health and humour.

Tidus gave Yuna a gentle shove out of the way and enveloped their daughter in a bear hug, both wittering away in high voices, so excited to see each other. When he finally let go Bayla told them that Vidina would be free after midday, and that he wanted to se them too. Then they talked for a long time about what had happened and what Bayla was up to. She told them about Yasmine's medicine that she had administered herself, and the library where they had found all the old Summoner's records. Yuna had a suspicion that she hadn't told them everything because her face went blank for a moment as it often did when she was thinking quickly, and her next line wasn't quite what she had expected.

"The census records weren't that complete," Bayla said, without elaborating.

"Course not!" Tidus didn't seem to have noticed this lapse in her concentration. "It's taken years to get to where we are now. Back then we were still picking ourselves off the ground from Sin. None of those records are going to be completely full or accurate,"

Bayla turned to pour herself more drink, and Tidus gave Yuna a meaningful look that plainly told her he had noticed Bayla's change of phrase too.

"Well, what has Vidina been getting up to?" Yuna asked, changing the conversation.

Bayla told them what little she understood of his work, but was interrupted by Tarak who greeted them both warmly and interjected their discussion. "Uncle Ti? When you're done here you wanna come over to hanger 2-B? I've got a surprise I wanna show you,"

Bayla's ears pricked up at this. "What surprise?"

Tarak grinned and said, "For me and Vid to know, for you to find out." And with that he sauntered off.

"Git," Bayla spat after him.

Yuna smiled and smoothed her daughter's hair back as it slowly began to work itself into a haystack. "How's desert life?"

"In the base? Pretty good. In the actual desert?" Bayla gave her a grave thumbs down. "Shulay thought it would be a good learning curb."

"And was it?" Tidus asked, barely containing his smirk.

"No!" Bayla exclaimed, aghast. "I nearly got eaten!"

They started swapping desert stories about fights and grand escapes; it was fun for Tidus because Elodie wasn't there to defend herself, and nor was Wakka – so he regaled them all with stories of their camping exploits that had gone horribly wrong, and of the machina that had chased El and Wakka up a ridge and into an oasis where they remained for an hour while Rikku tried and failed to pick it to pieces. Yuna had to laugh; she remembered the terrible fear that had gripped her at that moment in time, but looking back on their expressions when Lulu had thrown a thunder spell at it…Rikku's face had been priceless – Tidus had clung to a rock to keep upright, he had been laughing so hard.

"Mom?" Bayla waved a hand in Yuna's face. "Mom? Hello!"

Yuna gave a small start and smiled at her. "Miles away," she apologised. "What is it?"

"Dad and I are gonna go wait for Vidina by the entrance to the library, you coming?"

"Okay," Yuna said with a nod, and stood up.

It had been a while since they had visited New Home, and Bayla gave as best a tour as she could (Rikku and Gippal had had to hurry off to attend to their duties). Several buildings they passed outside had large mirrored panels that reflected the glare of the sun – this was apparently meant to help airships and hovers locate the base in all this sand, and it made a good punishment to clean when you got into trouble. As far as Yuna could tell, Bayla hadn't yet had to be punished; she was too busy running from her Zandal tutor to get done in by the Al Bhed. Yet…

As they passed under one such building in the shade of a hangar, the glare was lifted, and they could see themselves reflected in the panels.

"Woah!" Tidus grabbed Bayla by the scruff of the neck and wielded her around to face the wall. "Are you _taller_ than me?" he asked with mock horror.

Yuna looked closer and laughed; indeed, when the two stood back to back, Bayla was nearly half an inch taller. She looked shocked, then amazed, before it simmered into a smug smile – Tidus gave her a flat look and said in a deadpan voice, "How dare you."

Bayla laughed at him and kept walking, with an over pronounced spring in her step. They met Vidina before they made it as far as the library, and he mowed them down with his hug, laughing in his booming voice and chivvying them along towards the westernmost hangar where Tarak was waiting for them.

"Ladies, Gentlemen! And for those of you who are not sure," Vidina grinned, reciting their old History teacher's favourite opening gambit to a new class.

"I present to you-!" Tarak spun round and punched a button on the wall, before leaning against it in a cool manner, running a hand through his unkempt hair as the wall slid apart to show the cavernous room behind it, where an airship a bit bigger than the Celsius.

"Wow!" Tidus and Bayla were practically bouncing with excitement.

"-_The Kelvin_!" Tarak pretended to wipe away a tear. "Ah!" he sighed, hand on heart. "She's a real beauty, ain't she?"

"Dude!" Tidus rushed forward to get a better look, Bayla on his heels. "Where'd you get this heap of junk?"

"Scrapers." Tarak said with a grin, slapping the closest support with a ringing clang. "Wanted to melt her down. Dad leant me a bit of gil – I paid most of it myself, mind – and I'm financing the repairs."

"I get to do the paint job." Vidina said with a self-satisfied air.

"Oooh!" Bayla bouncing on the spot, hand waving in the air. "Can I design the motif? I mean," she started counting on her fingers, ceasing to bounce. "The _Fahrenheit_, the _Celsius_…they had cool patterns and motifs and stuff, _this_ one!" she waved her hands to encompass the air ship from her viewpoint. "This one needs one too!"

"That sounds like that tongue twister," Tarak said vaguely.

"What, this one?" Vidina asked, and repeated it in full.

Yuna was of course happy for Tarak, but she had never been that interested in the finer points of machina lore – the others drooled over the machinery while Rikku appeared from nowhere with Meva on her hip. Wordlessly, she took Yuna by the hand and led her out of the hangar. Once they were far enough away she turned to face her cousin with a solemn expression.

"I just saved you from hours of boredom."

When Yuna stopped laughing she asked, "Is it that bad?"

Rikku rolled her eyes, bounced the baby in her arms, and set off for another building at the centre of the base, Yuna following.

"That son and husband of mine," she wrinkled her nose in displeasure. "They've managed to find something else to channel their energies into. I can understand," she softened completely as she went on. "Poor Gippal, lost his sister…hasn't been right since. So I can't blame him for going all out on a busted up heap of junk, but…" Rikku's ire came back. "What was he _thinking_? Wasting all that money on _one_ airship! The repairs will cost more than the damn thing,"

Yuna smiled, listening to her cousin's rant, remembering once the manic gleam in her eye as she and Tidus had stood over a machina on the shores of Djose, discussing the possibilities of building a mechanic watchman. The aim had been to have a lookout machina so they could all get some sleep at night. They had been most put out when Auron accidentally broke it with one of the larger camping pans. Rikku could hardly talk about wasting money on fruitless projects, not when the cost of fixing the machina was thrice that of the amount she paid for it in the first place.

XOXOX

"How does it go again?" Janet asked Bayla as they stepped into their dorm building. She had met them on the way back from the hangar, and was having difficulty getting her head around the tongue twister.

"One-one was a racing bird," Bayla recited for the fifth time. "Two-two was one too. One-one won a race, but Two-two won one too."

"I'll _never_ remember that," Janet lamented, stalking upstairs after Vidina, who was still cackling over a joke Tarak had told them at the front door.

Feeling hungry, Bayla decided to go raid the kitchen, and found Dustin sat at one of the tables with his head bent very low over a cookbook.

"Hey!" she said brightly, waving at him as she went over to the stove. "Oh, pasta? Ahh, if you don't mind me pitching in to eat it, I'll bake you a chocolate sponge!"

She was expecting a quip as she would with Tarak and Vidina, or a compliment about her cooking like he normally gave her, but nothing came. Turning round, Bayla saw that Dustin had changed his position so that he was bent even closer to the book – nose nearly touching the page, with his arms tightly folded under the table top.

"Hey, you okay bud?" Bayla walked over to him and prodded his shoulder. "Dude, staring at things long enough doesn't make them burn. That's why I suck at magic. No seriously, wassup?"

Dustin straightened up so suddenly Bayla jumped back, alarmed. He was staring at the opposite wall, near where the stove was located, not looking at her at all.

"Nothing. Why should there be?" his tone was dull and lifeless.

Fighting her sudden anxiety, Bayla raised her eyebrows. "Huh?"

Dustin looked back down at the cookbook – a double spread on Zandal 'Gypsy Steak' that El would have been proud of. Looking closer, Bayla realised that he looked as though someone had told him of a death in the family. No sooner had the thought flitted through her mind then her stomach clenched painfully and she bit her lip. She knew that he'd lost his family recently, and that Tarak hadn't spoken much about it, neither had the twins.

Hoping that it wasn't another death he was trying to cope with, Bayla slid into the seat next to him and said, "What's wrong? You don't look your usual self. I'm getting worried now. Please?" it often worked with Deka to cajole an answer out of her; the same principle applied here. "If you want we can talk and my lips stay sealed," she mimed zipping them together.

Dustin finally met her gaze, and Bayla tried not to recoil. He looked wounded, hurt, anguished, pained – you name it, the only emotion she didn't see was outright anger.

"Bloody hell!" she exclaimed, shaken. "What's wrong?"

Dustin closed his eyes; face cast to the book again, and then spoke in a rush. "You'retheHighSummonersdaughter."

"Say…uh?" Bayla blinked, not getting what he had just said.

Dustin sighed and raised his face to the ceiling. "You… are the High Summoner's Daughter." He said slowly in more measured tones.

Bayla opened her mouth to speak, but let the nonexistent words die on her tongue, allowing the horrible sinking feeling in her stomach consume her with guilt for a moment. She deserved it, really…

"Err, yeah…I am, actually." She bit her lip, scratching her cheek inattentively. "So, um…did Tarak tell you, or…?"

Dustin sighed again, and stared straight ahead at the blank wall as he spoke. "I saw the airship dock. I saw the Lady Yuna disembark, and Tarak said that she was your mother." He turned to look at her with extreme difficulty. Then, in almost a whisper, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Err," Bayla wished that she had before now, but she knew that she would have chickened out anyway. It had occurred to her before, but she hadn't known when or how to say it. "Because I thought you'd be more interested in my mother than me." she said in equally measured tones.

"Why would I do that?" Dustin snapped, and the anger she hadn't seen earlier flashed for a moment in his eyes.

To prevent his anger from exploding, Bayla rushed on to say, "Look, I know I shouldn't have hidden who I really was, but you've got to understand!" she could feel her own frustration at the situation she was in – had been in her whole life. "I've always been Sir Tidus' girl, or the High Summoner's daughter. Even on Besaid, I could never _just_ be Bayla when visitors came to call. When I came here, I wanted it to be a fresh start. I didn't want everyone knowing who my mother is, because then I'd just be put on a pedestal and asked loads of questions like 'what's it like being Lady's Yuna's daughter?' and 'how often you blitz with your old man?'" she gave him a despairing look. "See? If I had told you from the start who I was, would you have been able to stop yourself from thinking like that?"

"Of course I would!" Dustin retorted, but she could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

They sat in silence, both staring at the ingredients listed for the garlic heavy steak. Eventually, Dustin stirred and Bayla's eyes flickered upwards to look at him. He gave her a mournful, apologetic look, and said, "Sorry, I…I didn't think of it that way, I…"

"Hey," she smiled at him. "Apology accepted. And I'm sorry too, I was meaning to tell you, but I was procrastinating over it – I just wanted to make sure you were really the decent person you seem to be before I let that slip."

Dustin raised an eyebrow at her. "The thing about Tarak," she said quietly, pretending to whisper into his ear. "Is that you can't trust a word he says most of the time." Then, in normal tones, "You're a git and a pillock, but you're also the most wonderful first cousin in the world. You seem to be a maniac with an axe and a gentleman who wouldn't hurt a fly all at the same time, according to his most gracious nibs."

Dustin finally laughed. "Yeah, sounds like something he'd say about me."

Bayla laughed too, and managed to compose herself before Dustin did. When he finally stopped laughing, they just looked at each other over the cookbook; Dustin was the first to look away, blinking as though he'd just seen a bright light.

Trying not to snigger, Bayla held out a hand to him, which he regarded as though it were a weapon. "Why don't we start over?" she asked. "Hi, I'm Bayla, I'm Lady Yuna's daughter, though I think blitzball is way more interesting than Yevon Studies any day. Will you be my new best friend?"

She hadn't expected to start another laughing fit, or to cling to him when she nearly lost her balance on the chair. They both laughed until they were out of breath, and had to drag themselves weakly over to the stove to deal with the pot of boiling water. They worked in silence – Dustin handling the actual food, while Bayla got out forks, bowls, and a cheese grater. Finally, they sat down at the table with two bowls of steaming pasta, with goat's cheese, sliced mushrooms, and small strips of bacon. No one else came into the kitchen, though a fair few entered and left the building in the mean time.

Just as Dustin finished his last mouthful, he turned to her and said, "Anything else I should know about you?" his teasing air and crooked smile belied any harshness his words could have conjured.

"Dunno," Bayla considered for a moment, toying over the remaining food in her bowl. "Not that I can think of off the top of my head…"

Dustin considered this as she munched her way through the rest of her meal. Then, as they went to the sink, "If I think of questions, do you mind answering them?"

"Okay," Bayla nodded, glad that this had blown over without a major argument. The thought of being at odds with Dustin left a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"So…" he left the pot to soak, and started scrubbing the bowls to rid them of the goat's cheese before it dried and stuck. "Why blitz?"

Bayla shrugged. "I grew up on an island. Blitz is everything to Besaid and Kilika. My dad and Wakka are mad on it, I guess I just got used to the enthusiasm. Plus, Vidina and I have always done stuff together – I wasn't about to let my best friend have all the fun without me! And then I found I was really good at it, so I practised with the rest of the guys at school." She shrugged. "What about you, though? You're petty secretive yourself," she grinned, giving him a gently dig in the ribs.

At once she wished she hadn't said anything, because Dustin gave the wall in front of him a pained look.

"Um," she bit her lip. "S-sorry, I didn't mean…"

Dustin sighed, letting his hair flop into his eyes. It was then Bayla realised how long it had grown in the last few weeks, and she checked her own, which had grown even longer as well. It was a trait of the Al Bhed, to have fast growing hair and nails – she wondered why she hadn't noticed it in both of them until now.

"Look," Dustin said to the sink, and the pain in his voice was evident in his eyes. "I know I was…upset, about not knowing the truth about you, but…I've got some things in my life that are – are too painful for me to talk about…"

Bayla stood rooted to the floor, chewing a hole in her lip, feeling a mixture of pity and longing to help, and knowing right now there was nothing she could do.

"I promise, I'll tell you one day…" with much effort, Dustin looked up at her, eyes bright with unshed tears. "But I'm not ready to face it, not yet."

"Okay." she said lamely, wishing she could say something wise like Aunt Lulu, or comforting like her mother. "So…how about we go jam?" she asked, taking the cutlery from him by force and scrubbing them down with a rough sponge.

"Jam?" Dustin blinked, confused.

"Yeah, like – mess around on the guitar. Forget all this heavy stuff, let's just go chill!" she flung everything into the drying wrack and grabbed his hand.

"What about your parents?" Dustin asked, now completely lost.

"They can wait a couple of hours." Bayla said vaguely. "They won't begrudge me hanging with my friends for a bit, will they? I'll see them all the time when we go to see the whales anyway!"

And with that, she dragged him upstairs to grab their instruments, ignoring his protests.

XOXOX

Rikku stared at her nephew in amazement as he walked across the room to a shelf that housed books on the Zandal culture.

That in itself was odd, but what was evener weirder was the fact that he had walked through the door and said, "Morning, Aunty Rikku!" with a smile.

Now he was looking at her as though she were the one acting strangely.

"Rikku?" he asked, holding a book in his hands. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she shook herself and went back to her filing. "No, nothing. Just glad to see you're feeling happier." She chanced a glance up at him, and saw him staring at the window, looking surprised.

"Err…yeah, I've had time to think." he said, and began gathering books quickly so he could make a speedy get away.

"And why are you raiding our bookshelf?" she asked suspiciously.

"Gippal said I could," he snapped back, clearly under pressure.

Rikku raised an eyebrow, which she did not lower until he left the room in a hurry. It was raised almost instantly as Gippal himself strode in.

"I need recording equipment," he said, crashing around in a pile of boxes. "Ti's gonna help El record the whales, and I need to find him the right…what is it?" he said in a resigned tone, finally noting her expression.

"Dusty. In here. Not two minutes ago. Looking at books on Zandal culture. On your orders. _Explain_."

"Huh?" Gippal blinked at her. "Explain what? He just wanted to learn some more but doesn't have time to ask Bayla's mentor, so he wanted to do some bedtime reading on it."

"And you _believed_ him? Why does he suddenly want to know?"

"Does it matter?" Gippal retorted. "As long as he's keeping himself occupied, it doesn't matter what his motives are," ignoring her in a grand manner, he gathered what he needed and stalked out of the room, trailing wires and screws as he went.

Rikku snorted softly, and went back to her work. It didn't last for long, because Tidus came in with his usual grin in place, yelling, "Knock, knock!"

"And _you_ want?" she asked, smiling.

"Gip said he had some stuff for me," Tidus sat himself down on the corner of her desk and swung one of his legs back and forth. "El needs it for the whales, I said I'd take it to her. And besides!" he spread his arms wide. "I barely had time to say hello today! But if you _don't_ wanna talk to me, that's fine too," he pretended to sulk and turn his back on her.

"Oh!" Rikku threw the file down and stood up. "Let's go for a walk! Dinner's not too far off anyway, we can go early."

They meandered around the base in the late afternoon sun; talking about nothing of consequence and watching the sun slowly sink in the sky before it suddenly dropped below the horizon very quickly. They took it as their cue to go inside, to Rikku's private quarters where Rosie was helping Yuna to cook the evening meal. It was a fun affair – they were like one big, if somewhat dysfunctional family. Sadly, Vidina, Bayla and Tarak excused themselves after pudding to go back to the dorm building, and soon the twins followed. Paco and Ruba demanded Tidus' attention, and they ended up playing a sphere break tournament together in the corner. Gippal dosed off with Meva in his arms, while Rikku sat with Sicel and chatted to Yuna. It was a good evening, even if most of the kids had run off.

"So, how do you think Bayla's settled in?" Yuna asked quietly after shooting Tidus a furtive look.

"Really well." Rikku nodded. "Ti doesn't need to worry about her,"

Yuna smiled at her. "I was a bit concerned too, to be honest. I'm glad she's having fun."

"Yeah. _And_," Rikku beamed at her cousin. "I think she's been a good influence!" When Yuna looked confused, she went on. "Dustin's been slowly crawling out of his shell since they were put in the same building. It's the first time I've seen him really smile since he got here…"

Yuna's expression became a mixture of pride and deep concern. "How is he coping?"

"Better for being with people like Vidina and Bayla," Rikku told her. "Tarak keeps getting on his nerves, but they've always been like that."

Yuna smiled more widely. "I hope it helps,"

"Oh, it does Yunie," Rikku said, settling back in her chair and hefting Sicel into a more comfortable position. "It really does."

Not a word did Rikku speak about her recent uneasiness around the base, not wanting to worry her cousin. For now, they could bask in the knowledge that the youngsters were looking out for each other – something the adults could be immensely proud of.

XOXOX

Dustin had, after a lot of coaxing, allowed Bayla to make him a weeks worth of 'knockout tea' (as Vidina had dubbed it) before she left.

It was supposed to be a low-key affair, and Dustin actually skipped a night's worth of tea to make sure he would be awake to say goodbye. Sadly, he ran into Aunt Rikku on the way, who gave him a smug and knowing look. Even more sadly, Tarak and Kai were there to witness it, as well as Vidina. Luckily, Bayla's parents had already said goodbye and had boarded the airship that was going to take them to the whales. Bayla looked very surprised at first to see Dustin up that early just to say goodbye, but she seemed rather flattered by it nonetheless.

Maybe it was a trick of the faint pre-dawn light, or maybe it was Dustin's wistful imagination, but he could have sworn that her cheeks were stained pink when he gave her a hug and said, "Caa oui cuuh,"

"You too," she said in Spiran, looking a little dazed.

Completely nonplussed, Dustin looked away from Bayla, only to meet his aunt's gaze. Rikku gave him that knowing look again, but instead of the smug air she exhumed a warm and comforting aura, full of such understanding he could hardly bare to keep the eye contact.

Ducking away and blinking rapidly to rid himself of the sudden rush of hot, uncomfortable feelings that coursed through him, Dustin watched Bayla give Vidina a bear hug before crushing Kai to her chest, pretending to cry about no wanting to leave.

"You love the whales more than us, admit it," Tarak teased, pulling her hair.

"Well," she deliberated playfully, but then like Rikku caught Dustin's eye, and her expression changed instantly. "Err, sort of…"

It didn't sound like that was what she had been about to say, nor did it sound like something she would usually have said.

"Well," Rikku said, chivvying her forwards to the ramp. "You'd better get going! Have fun, take loads of pictures, and give Deks and Zuo a hug from me!"

"Will do!" she waved back as the ramp started to crank itself up. "See ya!" she yelled before it sealed itself.

They watched the take off, before splitting off to start their daily routines. Dustin jumped when Tarak appeared out of nowhere by his side near the art block and elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"What?" he snarled.

"I know the look." Tarak said gleefully, prancing past with a horribly smug expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Dustin said primly, reaching for the door.

Tarak slammed his hand against it to prevent it opening. "Sure you don't. But I do," his grin widened.

"That's because whatever it is you think you know has no basis in fact or reality." Dustin snapped, kicking the door open before he could be stopped.

He had taken only three steps when a horrible squelching, squishy sound issued from behind him. Turning on the spot, he saw Tarak had his back to him, arms wrapped around himself to make it look as though there were someone in front of him with their arms around him, making the most unrealistic kissing sounds Dustin had ever heard.

Anger – hot and furious – pulsed through his already agitated body, but Dustin reigned in the impulse to punch his cousin.

But then Tarak opened his mouth to speak.

"Oh Dusty!" he squawked in an imitation of a girl's voice, that sounded _nothing_ like Bayla. "You dark and mysterious man! I want to know more about you – now that you know my dark secret about being the Lady Yuna's daughter! Take me in your arms and-!"

Dustin dived for the jugular.

Tarak yelled and tried to fend him off, but succeeded in tripping himself up and landing heavily on the ground with a pair of sickening cracks.

Both rolled away from each other, groaning loudly in pain. Dustin had no idea what Tarak had broken, but pain laced its way up and down his own arm and blossomed most vigorously from his wrist.

Tarak swore in Zandal before sitting up slowly, clutching his ankle. "I think you broke my _leg_…"

"You bloody well deserved it you-!" Dustin started cursing him in Al Bhed, but was cut short by a shout from across the courtyard.

They both looked up, to see Cid striding towards them, looking very displeased.

"Err,"

"Oh _crap_…"

"And _what_, boys?" the older man said, coming to stand with his arms folded and his eyebrows parted by a severe line, regarding them as you would a pair of disobedient children. "Is the meaning of this? Brawling, _this_ early in the day? We thought fiends had penetrated the walls and were attacking people. _Explain_ yourselves!"

Dustin glared over at Tarak, who scowled back.

Neither was ready to admit the truth; Tarak, because he had been out witted and his pride wouldn't allow such admissions; and Dustin, because he didn't want to admit that being teased about a girl had provoked him.

XOXOX

"Is that it? Is it them?" Deka ran towards the bridge, only to stalk back looking disappointed.

Elodie kept her eyes fixed on her map, memorising the shape of the seabed so she wouldn't damage the recording equipment. They had been waiting since sunrise, mainly because she had had to get up early to double-check everything, and also because Deka wanted to be sure she was awake when her parents arrived. Zuo was slumped in a bundle underneath a large underwater sphere cam, fast asleep.

Poor kid had the right idea – Elodie would give anything to sleep at the moment, but she had a job to do. And do it she did, with absolutely no enthusiasm at this unholy hour in the morning.

When Deka screamed she looked up, reaching for her bow and quiver, but she saw an airship headed straight towards the outpost, so she let her weapon lay where it was. Standing and stretching, she nudged Zuo with her foot in an attempt to wake him up.

"Come on, bud. Wakey wakey,"

Zuo grumbled and rolled over. "I'm up…"

It was all low-key; Tidus and Yuna disembarked with Bayla, stopping to say hello and give hugs before they all pulled on thick knitted coats and grabbed a fair share of equipment. Once they were ready, they set off up the first leg of the mountainside.

Zuo and Deka walked a little way ahead of the adults with Bayla, exchanging news about what they had been up to and marvelling and the differences between Besaid and Bikanel. Yuna was taking in the scenes around them as they followed the quickest mountain route, which cut through the rock well below Fayth Scar's level, looking content to be back in Gagazet.

In the mean time Elodie instructed Tidus on the proper care and usage of the recording equipment, and smoothed out the plans for who would be wielding which microphone or camera. There was the usual element of abusive banter to their conversation, but they managed to iron out the details without too many spats.

A Ronso youth excitedly greeted them at the mouth of the tunnel and took them half way, before a much older Ronso took over and led them in silence. Bayla looked over her shoulder and pulled a face at Tidus, who just managed to pass his laugh off as a cough. Yuna gave them both a stern look, and they all marched on in silence, still grinning.

Once clear of the tunnel – which took so long it was about lunchtime – they were met by another group of Zandal travellers, a few of whom Tidus and Elodie knew, so they joined forces and trudged on towards the ruins of Zanarkand before diverting to the east and following the coastline towards the small permanent settlement the Stroma kept there.

Elodie was in her element; the chaotic order that reigned among the festival seasons of her people was just the right place for a person like her to get things done. They would be staying in a small building that had belonged to the father Elodie had never known, that had been saved for her by a close friend of the family since most of her life had been spent further south.

"All right, pick a bunk. No fighting!" she called to the kids as they rushed for the beds set one on top of the other in an alcove in the wall. "Ti, you and Yuna have the bed, I'll take the couch. No, Yuna, really. It's absolutely fine. No buts!"

Yuna walked away, shaking her head with a smile.

"Right, when are we doing this?" Tidus asked, heaping things onto the wooden table in the kitchen area.

"Tomorrow, let's get settled and catch the gossip. Things have been a bit odd all over Spira recently." She frowned out of the hewn square in the wall that served as a window, with a rush mat rolled up above it like a set of blinds.

The house was quite snug, if a bit cramped. Like all the buildings in this settlement, it had been cut into the rocks themselves; the walls were thick to retain heat during the long winter months, and the two front rooms were the only ones with windows. This was so that when the winter did come any livestock could be brought in, while the family retreated into the back rooms where huge fireplaces kept the place warm, and the animals lived in the front with the door and window frames barricaded. Elodie did very much prefer her bedroll and a cloth tent, or the nice comfortable sofa in Lulu and Wakka's house, but there was little that could be done about it now.

The rest of the day they lounged with the rest of their tribe, swapping news and listening to the peddlers' stories while the kids ran around with the other Zandal children, laughing and screaming with joy.

That night they held the first of many feasts – that would continue to take place until the whales had passed through. It was possible that Tidus and Elodie drank way more than they should have, because neither could remember how they got back to the house in the small hours of the morning. Tidus was already hacked off by this point, but he got angry when he found out Bayla was in an even worse state than they were. After having chewed her out for it Yuna set a blended mix of fruit in liquid form in front of each of them, giving them all stern looks before whisking off the fix breakfast with Deka.

Zuo had the guts to give them all superior smirks, and managed to dodge Bayla's ill-aimed punches. He stopped the moment his mother glared at him.

"Ti," El said, draining her mug in one go. "Let us vow to _never_ go back to that wine peddler's stall at night for as long as we both shall live."

Tidus groaned and sank lower in his seat, clutching his head. "Agreed…"

XOXOX

After only two days of waiting, a young lad of about fifteen came running into the village with a message from the scout further down the coast, saying that the whales had been spotted and would pass them by the next day. Yuna saw Tidus, Elodie and Zuo off as they rushed to get the recording equipment set up, and spent a pleasurable morning with her two daughters looking around at the trinkets they had for sale in the newly erected bizarre.

She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when Bayla bought a cast metal plaque from a merchant, over hearing her say to Deka it was for a friend on the desert base.

"Who do you know who likes that sort of thing? Tarak and the twins aren't into wall hangings, are they?"

"Err," Bayla flushed, to Yuna's astonishment. "No, it's um…for Dustin. You know, Gippal's nephew?"

Comprehension dawned on her. "Ah, I see. Let's have a look,"

Bayla handed it over silently, biting her lip. It was beautifully made, and wrought with the image of a chocobo running across a meadow by a stream. The artist had crafted several delicate little pyreflies in the background.

"It's lovely," Yuna sighed appreciatively.

"Isn't it just?" asked the merchant, who had a very thick accent. "And plenty more where that came from! Can I interest you in something, m'lady?"

Yuna smiled, and let him talk her into buying a hummingbird broach she thought Hannah would like. Here with the Zandal, the majority followed their own culture's laws of etiquette; Yuna commanded the respect of a great summoner, although she was the only High Summoner alive, so she was treated like a great hero – but only in her own home and with her own customs. In this village, _Garret _as it was known to the Stroma, she was the wife of a Higher Warrior, with her honorary tattoos that did not place her as a full adult member of the Zandal. It was nice to be treated like everyone else by complete strangers for a change; Besaid was her home where everyone knew her, but to the rest of Spira she was that shining icon. Here, she was just another thread in a multi-cultural tapestry.

They lunched at ease, by mid-afternoon most of the preparations had been put into place for the following day. There was to be another feast, which was scantily attended since nearly everyone wanted to be awake before dawn to see the first whales.

So, before the sun had risen, and when the sky was that subtle shade of grey, Yuna got up with the rest of her family, dressed for swimming, threw on some grotty old clothes, and made their way down to the beach where the equipment was.

Elodie and Tidus had stationed themselves near enough to the middle of the passage the whales would be taking, so they could get for and after shots of the animals, and also would get advanced warning of their approach.

"Can you see them yet?" Deka asked Zuo excitedly as he scrambled over the rocks to signal to another youth further down the beach.

"No," he sulked, stalked back. "Dad, when are we eating?"

"_We're_ not," he motioned to himself and Elodie. "Can't swim after you've eaten, can you? You guys can, but we'll be in the water most of the day.

"Can't I help?" Zuo pleaded, following Tidus around the base site like a shadow. "Please?"

"If you stop stalking me and do as you're told, then yes." Tidus said with amusement.

"Here," Elodie shoved a bulky sphere camera into Zuo's arms. "You swim round and see if you can get any good action shots. Deks?"

Deka was by her side in an instant, looking eager to help. "Yes?"

"Can you get some shots on land for me? How about from that rock there?"

"What about me?" Bayla demanded as Deka whooped, running off with her sphere-corder.

"Here," Elodie strapped something around Bayla's shoulder with a small box and with looked like a songstress' microphone. "For the whale song," El grinned.

"Oh _hell_ yeah!" Bayla bounced excitedly.

"Yuna? You get to pick!" Elodie showed her the remaining kit.

In the end, Yuna chose to be head of the picnic basket so she could watch the fun from a safe distance. And so they went into position; Deka perched on a rock and watching the skyline intently as the first rays of golden light struck the water, Bayla and Zuo kept swimming round in circles, coming up for air and to check on the news that was passing up and down the stretch of coast as more and more people began pitching up for the day. Yuna sat in the calm shallows, water lapping no higher than her waist as she watched Tidus and Elodie argue over the best way to operate the largest camera.

Everyone was dressed for swimming, and as such Tidus had done away with his white linen shirt that Yuna had neatly folded up, along with everyone else's in a tidy little pile by the water containers. Standing knee deep in the water, shouting something at El under the water, Yuna had a good view of his back – even from this distance she could see the thin, delicate inscription that ran down his spine in a bright spectrum of colours that changed and faded in and out as it descended. Beside that was the self styled family crest on his shoulder blade; even from this distance every detail stood out sharply. It made her smile

The calmness of the moment was shattered by a young boy running down their stretch of the beach, shouting something excitedly to everyone he passed on the land.

"They're here!" Elodie yelled, and marshalled her charges into order. "Deks, keep that thing running, any of them breach or come up for air I want you to catch it! Zuo, get ready for the action shots. Bayla, get going, you should be able to hear them now! Ti?" they grinned at each other.

"Shall we?" Tidus bowed to let her dive first.

"We shall." Elodie dived headfirst and didn't resurface.

Tidus looked over his shoulder and waved Yuna over. "C'mon! It'll be amazing!"

Yuna rolled her eyes and wadded out to him. He didn't wait because El needed him, and Yuna followed at a slower pace. Under the water, she could just make out Bayla and Zuo milling around in the distance, while Tidus and Elodie had gone to a greater depth and were fiddling with boxes and wires and a very large sphere recorder.

Tidus looked up, and started pointing at something towards the east. A moment later Yuna heard that unearthly, ethereal noise that she had only ever heard on a bad recording. Even Bayla and Zuo grew still for a moment in awe of the sound.

So that was why they called it 'Whale Song'. For it did indeed sound like the whales were singing to each other through the water.

It was a while before they actually saw any whales, which was enough time for Yuna to resurface for air and check on Deka. She wouldn't be attacked by fiends, and there were enough people running around above the water to spot trouble miles away, but Yuna still didn't want to leave her behind. Deka insisted she was fine, and was excited at the prospect of being the one to catch it all above water. Still, Yuna promised to swap places with her later, and resumed her place underwater by Tidus' side.

When the first whale did swim past, it appeared out of the gloom like a spectre, and floated within inches of Zuo and his recorder, singing its beautiful song. It was such an incredible moment when a calf swam in a wide circle around them, watching them with just as much curiosity as they showed to it, and then its mother chivvied it along, her huge eye watching them until she had passed, her powerful tail taking care not to unsettle their equipment.

The long, warbling pitches and throbbing notes, punctuated by timbres that shot through every octave made the water resound with its power. Elodie had explained that this species of whale had a larynx the size of a small hover, which was how the projected their voices over such vast distances. It also explained why the water trembled as even more whales gathered; all those sounds echoing off the water and each other, reverberating against the obstacles in their way. One beat its tail at them so forcefully that Elodie's grip on her anchored camera was broken, and she was projected upwards with the current of water.

It was most humbling to think she had toppled great fiends and Machina war weapons, and yet with one flick of its tail one of those whales could break her spine in two. And yet, with that one exception when the whale beat its tail at them – they were all so peaceful and respectful; a few even started posing for Zuo as though they had worked out what he was doing.

XOXOX

"Wow." Deka said, sitting cross-legged by the long banquet table with Tidus and Zuo, barely having touched her food. "Just…_wow_."

"I know!" Zuo gushed excitedly, regaling his father with a story of how one whale had come up beneath him and slowly edge him up until they broke the surface, with him on the whale's back – with Yuna having recorded it all from the shore.

Tidus was grinning and swapping their news with the other who had witnessed the whales' early morning arrival. A lot of other researchers and enthusiasts had been doing them same thing as them all day, and they were all starving and exhausted but elated at the gold mine of records they had made.

Yuna was joining in the celebrations with Elodie until one of the Elders she had to answer to requested her presence in the meeting hall. Pulling a face, El left Yuna by the table and followed dutifully after the old man, but almost at once Bayla appeared out of nowhere with a handful of cooked prawns on sticks.

"Mom, can we go for a walk?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. One moment," Yuna gathered a plate of food to take with her, and they left the revelry behind.

They found a series of large flat boulders to sit on that would be above the tide when it finished rising; in the distance they could see the spurts of mist that showed the whales' breathing above the water. They were both quiet for a while, content just to sit and reminisce about the day. Eventually though, Bayla spoke up, and Yuna put her plate aside to give her daughter her full and undivided attention.

"There's a couple of things I want to ask you…"

"Just a couple?" Yuna teased.

Bayla grinned. "Kinda. Mom, where did dad come from? Like, his home town and stuff?"

Yuna stilled, thinking quickly while remaining outwardly calm. She and Tidus had decided that, they wouldn't go out of their way to tell their children about his origins, but they wouldn't hide it from them either; if one of them asked, they would tell them. But a couple of years ago Tidus had asked Yuna specifically that, if they asked her, she should tell them to talk to him about it; he wanted to be the one that told them.

"Your father spoke to me a while ago about that, and he wants to be the one to tell you."

"Huh?" Bayla looked nonplussed. "Why?"

"Because…oh, its very hard to explain. But he was adamant about it."

"O…kay?" Bayla frowned. "I guess I'll ask him later. Right," she seemed to be steeling herself for something. "Okay, the other thing is…I…" her cheeks flushed bright red, just like Yuna's did when she was embarrassed.

"You can tell me," Yuna encouraged.

"Um…I- I mean, err…" Bayla squirmed. "Don't tell anyone! Especially dad, he'll flip I just know it!"

"What is it?" Yuna said calmly, wondering what in Spira it could be.

"I…there's this guy at the base," she said slowly and evenly, watching Yuna intently and remaining heavily guarded.

"Right,"

"And…I think I may kinda _really_ like him, in a way I haven't liked a person before. And I don't quite know what to do about it…" she spoke stiltedly, as though she thought she might get laughed at.

"Okay." Yuna smiled, remembering how it had felt for her.

Bayla gave her a pleading look.

"So, what did you want to ask?" Yuna prompted.

"What do I _do_?" Bayla burst out. "Cause I don't know! And no _way_ am I asking Vid or Kai or Rikku, cause they'll blab to everyone, and if Tarak finds out I'm _dead_!"

Yuna edged closer to her daughter and put an arm around her shoulders. "It's all right, everyone goes through this some time in their life. You just never met someone like that until now."

"What was it like for you?" Bayla asked, looking up at her intently, begging for help. "With you and dad, I mean. I need help!" she added, as though to emphasize her distress.

Yuna laughed softly, looking out over the water, as the sun was slowly dipping towards the sea – not quite a sunset just yet – and remembered all those years ago…

"I was young. I had just finished my training, and was about to set off on my pilgrimage. And I picked up an extra guardian before I left." She smiled at the thought, glad that Lulu hadn't been able to drive him away that early on.

"Yeah, Wakka's told the story about how he recruited dad to the team for that tournament. But I mean, what about all the icky mushy emotional stuff? You know me; I've never been like that! But you have," she shot her mother a fleeting look.

Yuna giggled, unable to help it. "Yes, well…your father was a bit of an oddball." She admitted, acknowledging his origins. "But that's why I liked him. I guess…" she fingered the ring on her finger, with its three diamond and delicate pattern of flowers, remembering the day he had placed it there. "He completes me. I could be so serious, and I was always so driven and let my duty take priority over everything else. And your father, well…" she smiled at Bayla's grin. "He's so full of life! He's very laid back; he likes having fun. He was very good at drawing that excitement out of me. And I guess I was a calming influence on him, too."

"I…don't think that really answered my question." Bayla said apologetically, smiling a sheepish smile.

"No, it didn't, did it?" Yuna smiled in kind. "Well, really the reason we got on so well was we complement each other. We're different enough so that we don't clash, but we're similar enough that we have things in common. I wouldn't worry about it – all the advice I can give you is to be yourself, and not to push things or to rush it."

They looked each other full in the face; it was like a mirror, but for the eyes. Yuna could see herself in her daughter's face – overwhelmed and nervous. But she could see Tidus there too – brash and determined to do the right thing.

"Isn't that what they say in all the old movie spheres?" Bayla asked dully.

Yuna laughed. "But what else can you do? If this young man likes you too, he'll want to get to know the real you. Would you want someone to love you for something you're not?"

Bayla's face fell and she looked down at the water, brooding.

"Is something wrong?" Yuna hedged.

"He err…" she cleared her throat. "He saw your ship docking, and Tarak thought I'd told him who my mother was, and…yeah, it upset him."

"Did you talk to him about it?"

"Yeah, I said why I hadn't, and he seemed pretty mad at first, but…I don't know. I don't think you really factored into it, I think it was the fact I hadn't been honest with him that upset him…"

"And does this _him_ have a name?" Yuna asked slyly.

"Dus-" Bayla began, but hissed to a stop. "Hey!" she glowered at Yuna.

"Okay, so this _Dus_ of yours," she began teasingly.

"Mom!" Bayla whined.

"Okay, okay! This boy – did you clear the air before you left."

"I think we did. I _hope_ I did…" Bayla bit her lip. "I mean…we were getting along and everything…"

"But there's something else." Yuna stated, knowing that look.

"It's just that…well, he said that he's got a lot of painful things in his life that he's not ready to talk about. I'm worried about him, but I can't really ask him to talk about it to me if he doesn't want to…"

Yuna stroked her hair, bursting with pride for her daughter.

"I want to help, but I just don't see what I can do right now…"

Nodding, Yuna said, "You're very mature. I'm sure, given time, he'll open up to you. Just keep supporting him like you are now, and I know you'll both be just fine."

Bayla gave her an uncertain smile. "I'll try…"

"Come on, let's get back to the feast. I'm sure Elodie's come back now,"

As it turned out, she hadn't. Instead, Deka was watching Zuo play sphere break with some of the Zandal children, and Tidus was dozing by a newly lit fire. Bayla hovered awkwardly while Yuna went to talk to him, looking from her parents to her brother and sister.

"Tidus," Yuna said softly, tapping his arm.

He jerked and looked up at her, blinking in the fading light. "Huh? Yeah! What, what is it? I was resting my eyes!" he added indignantly.

Yuna giggled, then sobered up. "Bayla asked me something."

"Yeah? If it's girly stuff I want nothing to do with it," he held up his hands to ward her away as if to prove a point.

"No. She asked me about you, and where you came from."

Tidus just stared at her wide-eyed for a moment before trying to pass it off with a nonchalant cough. "Ah. Right. I'll go then," he stood up, dusting himself off meticulously before straightening up. He strode over to Bayla, who looked startled by his sudden appearance, and said loudly, "Let's go for a walk,"

Bayla shot Yuna a furtive look before following him down to the water's edge.

Sighing, Yuna took up some more food and went to join Deka by Zuo's side, knowing that her little girl was now all but grown up.

XOXOX


	12. Discord

**AN: I do apologise for such a looooooong time since my last update xD the phrase 'it never rains but it pours' is so very true…..**

**Anyways, please read and enjoy and drop me a review to let me know what you think ;)**

_**Discord**_

They stood side-by-side, watching the sun dip towards the horizon in a brilliant glow of red and gold; Bayla bursting with curiosity and impatience, Tidus steeling himself for the conversation ahead of them.

"So," he said eventually, folding his arms and watching the progress of a seagull far out to sea as it wheeled through the darkening sky. "Your mother tells me you asked about my home town."

"Mmm," Bayla sat down on the sand, and after a moment Tidus followed her lead.

"Before I answer that question, can I ask why you want to know?"

"Is it really that big a deal that you have to treat it like some big secret?" Bayla shot back.

Tidus shrugged. "Yes. Tell me,"

"Well…something Yas said, and then we went to look you up in the census records, and it just said you were born in the East side of Zanarkand. There wasn't much else."

"Well, it's kinda true…" he admitted, wondering how best to go about this.

"What do you mean, _kinda true_?" Bayla demanded. "Why couldn't mom tell me? Why all the secrecy?"

"I _was_ born in Zanarkand, in a quarter known as A-East."

"What, there?" Bayla nodded at the ruins, looming in the distance to their left. "Dad, _no one_ goes into those ruins unless they want to become fiend chow. How could you possibly have been born there?"

Tidus gave her a long searching look before he went on. "That's not my Zanarkand."

"Your…_what_?"

He gave her a tired, sad smile before he looked into the water. "I guess it'll make a bit more sense if I tell the story from the beginning. You know the Machina War?"

"Yeah, Bevelle and Zanarkand were fighting each other for obscure reasons." Bayla said sardonically – she had always been scathing about that part of Spira's history.

"Yeah. Anyone who was still alive either fled and joined the nomad tribes in the east, or they made a final stand. The summoners and the remaining population joined forces to preserve their home, and they created a kind of fayth – that's what Fayth Scar on Gagazet is, or _was_ I should say. The fayth went into a sort of trance and dreamed about what once was, and they summoned another Zanarkand to sustain their memories." He looked up again, and saw Bayla's open-mouthed expression.

"Wait," she closed her eyes and shook her head, as though to clear her mind. "Let me get this straight. A bunch of people became a fayth, whose summoning was of a dead machina city, that isn't _that_ one," she pointed at the ruins in the west. "And you say you're _from_ Zanarkand but not _that_ one. So…are you implying that you're…?" her eyes widened as she tried to grasp the logic.

Tidus gave her a grave look. "Yes. I came from the Dream Zanarkand."

Bayla looked like a stunned chocobo in the hover lights. "But…_how_…?"

"It's a very, _very_ long story. Do you want to hear it?"

"I want to _understand_," she said weakly. "That's just…almost _too_ weird, even for you, but…why'd you make something like that up? It's so weird it almost _has_ to be true…"

Tidus took a deep breath. "Okay, here goes. Since there was a Dream Zanarkand, no one was left to protect what was left of the real Zanarkand. Before Bevelle got there, Sin had been created. The leader of Zanarkand used the summoning of Fayth Scar to gather a kind of shield around himself – and in the process he made Sin. Because of the way Bevelle had fought with Machina weapons, he went after everything that used machines with ill intent. You already know how the Final Summoning works; the person taken to be the aeon became the next Sin. One of the incarnations of Sin went to the Dream the Fayth had summoned, and brought a man from there in the hopes of breaking the cycle of death in Spira." He looked up to make sure Bayla was still listening – she was hanging on his every word.

"Who was it?"

"Your grandfather, Jechet. My old man… Sin brought him to Spira, where he met your grandfather Braska. They went on to defeat that Sin, but not long after he became Sin himself. Then he came back to the Dream Zanarkand to bring _me_ to Spira."

Bayla looked like she wasn't sure if she should believe him, but she didn't contradict or stop him, so he continued.

"After another run in with Sin, I ended up in Besaid, where I met your mother… So that's where I came from,"

He gave Bayla enough time to digest this information. Eventually, her curiosity outweighed her shock, and she said, "So…when mom performed the Sending for all the aeons and Sin…?"

Tidus sighed heavily. It still hurt to think about it, even now – though he was pleased that she had made the connection so quickly. His daughter was one bright cookie.

"I was dead against what she was planning, once I found out what happened at the end of the pilgrimage. When we found out how to obtain the Final Aeon, she turned her back on Yevon's teachings completely. After that, we had to find another way to defeat Sin. And when we did, I found out that once the aeons and the fayth were gone, I would be too." He smiled bitterly. "All that whining about how I wouldn't let her die, and I went in her stead. I'm such a hypocrite."

"But…" Bayla said quietly. "If _you_ disappeared at the beginning of the calm, how could you get married? How come _I'm_ here?"

Tidus chuckled. "You've got a good mind for this sort of thing." He smiled at her fondly. "Thank God you've got your mother's brains. Anyway, so I faded away, leaving a peaceful world behind that your mom had wanted to live in. Then two years later Spira was in mortal peril, _again_. There was a guy who lived in Zanarkand," he nodded towards the ruins. "The _real_ Zanarkand, during the Machina War. He and his girlfriend got killed when he tried to steal the biggest, baddest machina weapon of them all."

"Vegnagun?" she whispered, remembering all the Gullwing stories Rikku told with relish.

"Exactly. Somehow a sphere of the guy ended up on Gagazet where Kimahri found it. He looked a lot like me, so when your mother found out she went looking for me."

"But…where were you?"

"The Farplane." It was probably best at this point to be brutally honest and straightforward. The very fact she hadn't questioned his sanity at this point was a good sign. "She ended up there a few times in the process. I couldn't do much, really… But in the end they stopped Vegnagun, reunited the two lost lovers, and it was set up to be one big happy ending. Then, the fayth of the Bevelle aeon, Bahamut, came to me and said, 'Someone expressed and interest in seeing you again. Do you share that interest?'"

"What?" Bayla snorted with laughter. "Really? They said _that_?"

"Yup," Tidus grinned at her, sharing her mirth. "Gotta love the spiritual bodies, they always know how to phrase things in a creepy way."

"It's not _that_ creepy, dad."

"Meh," he shrugged. "So then, I said yes of course. And the next thing I know, I'm submerged underwater with no idea where I am-"

"Wait, underwater?" Bayla raised an eyebrow.

Tidus shrugged. "Apparently spiritual bodies have a sense of humour."

"A warped sense of humour." Bayla snorted.

"Yeah," he laughed. "So…there you have it," he looked her intensely in the eyes. "Believe me?"

Bayla took a while to respond, but when she did, it was in slow and even tones. "It's really hard to believe, but at the same time, I can't think why you would make it up. Who else knows?"

"Wakka, Lu, Kimahri, Rikku…Gippal and Baralai know bits of it, Nooj never asked, though I bet he knows something of it. Let's see…Leblanc doesn't like me, so she never bothered to find out."

"How come you never told _us_?" Bayla asked, trying and failing not to look reproachful.

Tidus sighed again. "It's a lot to take in, especially when you're young, and it's very hard to keep such a fantastic story to yourself. Quite apart from the fact that we didn't want other people who don't understand the situation knowing, it wouldn't be fair to you and the twins. Think about it; if you went and told your friends at school they'd've laughed at you and said you were lying. It was difficult enough, trying to bring up kids who'd always be in your shadow while they grew up. We didn't want to make it any harder for you. So your mother and I decided that if you got curious one day, or started asking pointed questions, we'd tell you. A couple of years ago I asked her to direct you kids to me if you asked." He gave her a sheepish smile. "I guess, since I'm the one who made this mess, I should be the one to tell you."

"You didn't make a mess." Bayla pulled a face. "It's not like you asked for it to happen,"

Tidus chuckled and looked up to see the sun half submerged in the sea. "No, I didn't. I guess that was always the problem."

"What problem?"

"Well…I lost my father when I was seven. I hated him then,"

"Yeah, I heard bout that from Wakka-" Bayla began, but slapped a hand over her mouth in horror, giving him a guilty look.

Tidus burst out laughing. "Heh, he _would_ say that! Anyway, it was hard for me trying to live up to his name, when my mother idolised him and he kept trying to bully me into blitzball. After he left, my mother just – gave up, really. After that, all I had was Auron. And _your _mother was the same; your Al Bhed grandmother was killed by Sin, and then her father went off on pilgrimage. She was cared for by the Bevelle monks until she moved to Besaid, where Lu and Wakka looked after her. Still, even as a Summoner she had a big name to live up to. When we found mom was pregnant with you, we promised each other you'd have the childhood we never had – with the both of us in your lives, and we'd never let you think you had to follow in our footsteps. You could work on a trash site for the rest of your lives and we wouldn't be disappointed. And no," he added sternly as she opened her mouth to speak, "that is _not_ an invitation."

Bayla smiled sweetly at him. "I wasn't thinking about landfill sites, daddy. Were _you_?"

"Very funny," he ruffled her hair playfully before leaning back against a rock behind him. After a moment Bayla curled up against his side, like she used to when she was younger. "We are proud of you though – all three of you."

"Good." Bayla quivered with suppressed laughter. "I doubt you'd want any more kids after us!"

Tidus pretended to cringe from the thought. "Oh fayth, _no_! No really," he added once they'd both stopped laughing. "Three's a magic number. I already got way more than I ever thought I would, it'd be selfish to ask for more."

There was a long, comfortable pause until Bayla spoke up again.

"Daddy?"

They both at up and looked at each other contentedly.

"Thanks."

He grinned at her. "You're welcome."

"I guess El was right every time she said you were weird." Bayla teased.

"I am proud of my origins." He sniffed, trying not to laugh again. "It's part of your heritage too, young lady."

Bayla's expression went blank for a moment, before she blurted out, "What, I'm a dream too?"

Tidus had thought long and hard on that subject, from the moment Yuna had told him she was expecting their first child. If he was remaining in Spira because of the Fayth on the Farplane, what did it mean for any offspring he had? As the years had worn on, and the kids had grown up, he guessed it had very little bearing on them at all.

"I don't know," he told her truthfully. "But the last eighteen years have shown not that much. You're just as real as anyone else. I guess I am too."

Bayla kneaded her forehead. "This is all hurting my brain…"

"More food!" Tidus stood up, dragging her with him. "Let's go, before all the good stuff's gone."

They made it back to the feast in companionable silence, but Bayla stopped him just before they entered the fray.

"Are my lips supposed to be sealed on this?" she asked him.

Tidus laughed again. "If you like. If you want to spill the beans to your brother and sister for me I won't stop you."

Bayla glowered at him. "Like I'd do _that_," she snapped, stalking off into the crowd.

Tidus chuckled to himself, watching her until she had disappeared in the throng of festivalgoers. "Not now I pointed it out to you." he said to himself before going to find his wife.

XOXOX

"Fayth it was _amazing_!" Deka squealed, holding Lulu's hands and bouncing on the spot, grinning from ear to ear. "I swam with a baby whale!"

"You mean a whale _calf_," Zuo corrected her.

"It was amazing!" her brother couldn't dampen her spirits.

Lulu smiled and listened to their stories about the festival of the whales, while Tidus told Wakka all about the data logging they had done. Yuna went about making tea and setting out some cold meats and cheeses with a large loaf of bread as Tidus started unpacking.

"So, whale song, eh?" Wakka clapped him on the back. "What's it like?"

"Weird, in a good way," he laughed.

"It is!" Deka bounced straight into their conversation, eyes shining. "It's like they're trying to talk to us, but we don't speak the same language! El says that with the recordings we took Shrina's research into animal linguistics will progress super fast!"

While she babbled away to the adults Yuna sent Zuo to get some more bread from the bakers. He liked going by himself because it made him feel slightly more grown up, and he was also getting tired of his sister whittering away about the whale calf that had swum with her. After nearly twenty minutes of Zuo's absence, Yuna was beginning to worry but just as Tidus set out to find him, their son came running back; out of breath and with the bread she had asked for.

"What happened to you?" Tidus asked in surprise.

Zuo took a moment to recover before he put the loaf on the breadboard and said, "The priests are all acting funny. Dan and I went to go check it out but they chased us away from the temple. A nun said there's something funny going on inside, but they won't tell her what."

Yuna looked from Wakka, to Lulu, to her husband – all of whom were frowning. Tidus beckoned to Wakka and stuck his hand out firmly when Zuo made to follow him.

"Not today, bud."

"I never get to go with you," Zuo sulked, stalking over to the sofa and sitting down heavily.

"One day, when you're older, I'll take you into a fiend den and we can fight to your heart's content. But for now, you _stay here_." Tidus said firmly.

Both he and Wakka left, leaving Yuna and Lulu in charge. To keep the twins occupied, Yuna asked them to help get lunch ready while she put the rest of their travelling things away. It wasn't too long until the men came back; Wakka looked perplexed, but Tidus looked deeply worried about something.

"What is it?" Zuo sprang to attention by his father's side,

Tidus shook his head, like he couldn't quite believe it himself, but Wakka spoke up. "Nearly all the birds on the island have flocked to the temple gardens. They're just sat there, singin'. I don't _think_ it's anythin' to worry about, ya? But, it _is_ kinda weird though." He looked to Tidus for his opinion.

"I don't know," but his expression betrayed his brooding.

"Can we go see then?" Zuo demanded.

"No," Tidus said sharply.

"You're no fun," Zuo said accusingly before he turned his back and walked away to his room.

Deka sidled over to Tidus side and tugged on his sleeve. "Is something wrong?" she asked in a small voice.

Tidus sighed, and pulled her into a hug. "I don't think so. Just…promise me you won't go looking for an answer, okay? Just until we figure out what's going on?"

"Okay," Deka agreed readily. "I'll keep Zuo away from the temple too,"

He chuckled, ruffling her hair. "That's my girl."

XOXOX

"Well?" Vidina boomed, grabbing Bayla in a bear hug the moment she walked into Gippal's study. "How was it!"

"Fayth! You wouldn't believe the half of it!" she squealed, before launching into a full account of the whale's passage and showing them some of the copied recordings El had given to her before she went to Kilika for a short study on lobsters.

Gippal was sifting through some paper work, but he kept half an ear open to listen to the kids while they talked. Rosie and Tarak sat listening in awe, while Kai and Vidina supplied the questions. Naturally, Bayla was telling the story – and interestingly enough Dustin was perched on the edge of Rikku's desk with a note pad and pen in hand, doodling as he watched and listened to Bayla.

"Sounds like Shinra will be pleased." Gippal said eventually when a lull in the conversation surfaced. "Why don't you kids celebrate with a well earned dip in the pool and leave me in peace, yeah?"

"Pool's no fun with the blitz team hogging it for practise." Rosie sniffed.

"Actually, I should probably go find Shulay," Bayla said guiltily. "She wanted to hear about the whales, too…"

"Get going then. And Vid, shouldn't you be somewhere right about now?"

Vidina gave Gippal a blank look before slapping himself on the forehead. "Ah! Crap,"

"Shit, I was meant to go with you!" Tarak leapt to his feet and hobbled with his bandaged ankle to the door, following on Vidina's heels.

Rosie rolled her eyes and marched smartly from the room, while Bayla and Dustin followed at a more sedate pace with Kai bringing up the rear, giggling.

"What happened to your wrist?" Bayla asked in amazement when the long sleeve hiding Dustin's bandage rode up his arm as he pushed the door open.

"Huh? Oh, _that_…" Dustin's voice faded into the distance as they walked down the hall. "I-err, tripped trying to punch Tarak…"

"…_What_?" came the flat response as Kai burst out laughing.

Gippal closed the door behind them, and went back to his work, but was disturbed not five minutes later when Cid came into the room without knocking.

"What can I do for you?" he smiled sweetly at his father in law, feeling his annoyance grow.

"A few reports I'd like you to look into." And with that Cid dumped a thick wedge of paper on top of Gippal's current work.

"On what?" he asked, trying to stop gritting his teeth.

"Apparently the fiend situation in the Djose area's getting worse. And the Zandal Shaman up at the Remiem Temple have had some problems too, only it's the plant life getting to them."

"What?" Gippal demanded, diving into the stack of papers to find more information. "Plants? _Seriously_?"

"Yup." Cid started clearing off Rikku's desk in search of something; Gippal didn't tell him to stop, since he knew Rikku would do his work for him and kill Cid later. "Seems like there's something funny going on in the temples at the moment. We called Yuna a while back to check if she'd made it back home okay, and apparently the birds on Besaid have all gone crazy."

"You don't say," Gippal murmured, swiftly reading down a letter from Nooj in Guadosalm stating that the fiends on the Moon Flow and the Thunder Plains were acting up as well. "Do they have any idea what's going on?"

"Well, it's not _just_ the temples, that's for sure." Cid said, now checking the drawers. "Cause there _is_ no temple after Djose until you reach Bevelle."

"There's still Macalania," _Whatever's left of the place…_

"Nope, doesn't count anymore. Where the hell does Rikku keep her ledger?"

Right on cue, Rikku walked into the room, humming merrily to herself until she saw the state of her desk.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" she shrieked at him, brandishing the ledger he had been destroying her filing system to find.

XOXOX

"It's nice to drop by like this, dear." Dona said, pouring Elodie some tea.

"I just wish I didn't have to run off again in such a hurry." She sighed, blowing on the drink before taking a sip. It was horribly sweet – rooibose with way too much vanilla. In truth, El had only bumped into Barthello at the fish market, and came back to his house out of politeness.

"Sounds hectic, being a researcher." Dona mused, looking out the window at the port below.

"But worth it. I spent a year in this jungle on some as yet unnamed island looking at these ruins. And I just got back from Garret, you probably heard all about the whales – everyone in the docks was talking about it when I got here,"

"Fascinating," Dona said without much enthusiasm.

Elodie nodded but didn't pass comment. She had never really liked Dona much, and El's back had been put up once Dona had started ripping it out of Yuna for being Braska's daughter and having the nerve to become a summoner as well. Still, she knew Dona wasn't a bad person as such, just…not the sort of person she would chose to be friends with. Or sit and drink tea with, given the option. Or associate with at all if it was down to her.

"So, have you heard about the woods?" Dona asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"The woods up by the temples." She said slowly as though El were mentally deficient. "The monkey's are all acting strangely."

"Are they now?" Elodie frowned, remembering the brief conversation with Tidus recently, and the last message she got from Gippal the previous night. "That's interesting."

"Nothing to do with lobsters though, are they?" Dona gave her a twisted smile that may have meant to be playfully teasing, but which just annoyed Elodie.

"I might go look into that later, once I've done the survey in the cove."

"Well, I shan't keep you long." Dona stifled a yawn. "I haven't been sleeping well recently. I might have a nap before I go into town," admittedly, she did look a little worse for wear, and there were dark rings under her eyes.

They exchanged pleasantries for a while longer before El excused herself from Dona's company and hurried down to the docks. There, she did the quick head count of fishermen who caught lobsters – whether by design or accident – and tallied them up in her sheet of paper. With her job done, she went up to the gates that led into the woods, nodding at the guard on duty who looked out of his mind with boredom. And just as Dona had said, the monkeys _were _acting up.

Squatter monkeys were docile creatures that nested near the ground and hardly ever caused a disturbance. Today, they were scampering about the undergrowth, not so much chattering as _screaming_ over the usual hum of insects in the mid afternoon heat.

Elodie took a few quick notes, filmed a few specimens and attempted to pick one up before she made her way to the temple, giving them up as a lost cause when one bit her hard in the juncture between forefinger and thumb. The priests were just as baffled as she was, and could offer no explanation; the monkeys that had made the climb up to the temple were in an even greater frenzy, with no readily apparent or adequate reason.

"It's like the old days," said the oldest priest sadly, looking out at the distant sea from their vantage point. "The animals always worked up a fury before Sin attacked.

A little boy wearing the oversized robes of an older student baulked. "It's not come back has it?"

El put an arm around the boy's shoulders, crouching down so they were at the same level. "I promise you, it can't come back. Maybe the mokey's just had too much sugar for breakfast," she added with a wink, making him giggle.

"Or jumping beans," said a middle-aged man bearing the crest of the Crusaders, giving a particular individual who was performing back flips a raised eyebrow.

Elodie also raised an eyebrow, and said to the crowd at large that had gathered to watch the acrobatic monkey, "You think you've seen it all as a guardian, and then a monkey decides now's a good time to try out for the cheerleading squad. Go figure."

The children broke down with laughter, and the older priests who remembered the time of the Summoners dissolved with mirth as well.

XOXOX

Weeks slipped past, and it was becoming apparent very quickly that something was wrong in the world.

To Dustin, life had taken such a turn for the better that he almost didn't care – but with his new found and strong friendship in Bayla, he found that he did care quite a bit. When the adults were around she, Vidina and Tarak would start squabbling and baiting each other, but the moment Gippal or Rikku left them, they lapsed into heated discussions or brooding silence, never getting any further with their musings due to a lack of solid evidence. The best they got were the rumours running around the mill, mostly from the canteen when they couldn't be bothered to cook for themselves.

One day when Bayla was given a rare reprieve with her mentor having to go help with a dig team going to the Zanarkand Ruins, Dustin made room for her at the table he had taken over in the second art room, and they sat together working in companionable silence. It was the by far the nicest room they had at their disposal; the great bay windows let in dramatic quantities of sunlight during the day, shaded by the one tree that grew on the base so that you wouldn't be blinded.

Dustin was mixing paints for a large clay pot he had made, with a similar design to the plaque Bayla had brought back for him from the whale festival in mind. Bayla herself was hunched over an easel with a box of charcoal sticks, completely oblivious to everything around her. It was a quiet, reciprocal presence; Dustin kept Bayla supplied with a never-ending source of inspiration (they often swapped art tips and desired plans for Tarak's destruction) and in turn she kept him sane by offering undemanding human contact. Today was just another wonderful chance to be calm and comfortable with their shared passion for the arts.

Sadly, Tarak kicked the door in rather than knock like a normal person, with a scowl on his face.

"Yikes!" Bayla fell off her stool, nearly ruining her sketch. "What the hell, Tarak?"

"You're not supposed to be in here," Dustin snapped angrily, his wrist smarting.

"Wait till you hear this," Tarak said grimly, slamming something onto a free table for them to look at.

When they crowded around the desk to look, it was three sheets of paper – three separate letters from and to very different people.

"Look at this," Tarak showed them the one on the top.

Bayla took it, smudging the corners with charcoal as she did so. "_Father, I regret to inform you that the plan did not go as we had hoped. Our quarry eluded us until such a time as they were surrounded by heavy protection…_ Tarak, mind explaining-?"

"Read on!" he insisted.

Pulling a face, she did as she was asked. "_I still believe the one you seek is not the one we should be after. I firmly believe the next generation is…_'prepare…'? No… Preferable. Yes, _Preferable to the cause. May I suggest that we then make all haste to the sun to acquire them_."

"What else?" Dustin asked eagerly, wanting to hear more.

"Nothing. It's not even signed. And I barely understand his handwriting," Bayla frowned at the offending paper.

"And look at these," Tarak showed them the other two. They turned out to be a letter and a report; the first was from a senior member of the New Yevon Council to Nooj about the Stroma reinforcements for the fiend problems, and the second was an official request to Lady Yuna from the Epoch Division inviting her to some party they were holding for some obscure reason the sender did not quite convey in their words. "What do you think?" he asked them.

"Err," Dustin scratched his head. "Well…"

"I think you should piss off and let us work. You have any _idea_ how little I get to do in these lessons because I'm running around after that old bat working myself to the bone in a completely different language?" she shoved the papers back into his hands.

"No! Didn't you read the report?"

"Yeah, so the Stroma have men to spare now. Big whoop."

"No," Tarak said slowly, as though he were talking to a toddler. "These are proper _warriors_, not just the usual tribal rangers who keep the paths for the nomads safe. And look, the one about your mom going to this dinner thing with the Epoch Division?"

"What about it? School's already started now; she can't go cause she's teaching again. Anyway, why'd she wanna go? The invitation doesn't include my dad, and she'd never go on 'official business' without him."

"But its states that there's gonna be representatives from the Al Bhed, New Yevon, The Youth League, and the Stroma."

"So?" Bayla snapped impatiently.

"_So_," Tarak snapped back. "Vidina and I found these on my dad's desk with a bunch of other stuff. We've done a little digging ourselves, and the representatives they claim are gonna be present don't exist."

"What?" Bayla and Dustin said together.

"It's true! Bertrand à Cyril's been dead for years – killed with the Crusader's in Operation Mi'ihen. Yudolfus Guado of Bevelle doesn't appear on any records held by New Yevon or the temples. Sophie à Stroma – that's not a Stroma use name, is it? She's not on the records either. And I know all the Al Bhed that work for my grandfather, and Yigbar _isn't_ one of them. He's a fish merchant in Luca, _and _he's a Hypello."

"So…" Bayla looked troubled again, and Dustin cursed his cousin inwardly for making her worried again. "Why did those letters end up here instead of where they're addressed? Bikanel's a long way to get mislaid from Besaid."

"Cause someone intercepted them, and dad's running the investigation. Something's going on," Tarak lowered his voice, and they had to lean in to hear him. "Listen, Vidina and I have been thinking…once we get the _Kelvin _running, we can do our own investigations. Vid needs to start going to and from places with his own work, and I need to practise my captain skills. We can do that _and_ dig for more information while we're at it. What d'ya say? Want in?" he grinned, but Bayla surprised both of them by shaking her head.

"No way."

"Huh? But-!"

"Shut up and listen!" she growled. "This is my _mom_ they were after, apparently under false pretences. Deka contacted me last week, and apparently the wildlife around Besaid and Kilika are going berserk. If this has something to do with the rest of the stuff that's screwing Spira up, I want _nothing_ to do with it."

Tarak looked stunned, and then heart broken. Dustin was amazed; he had figured she was the sort of person who would jump on the chance for an adventure like this – she talked about all the stories of sphere hunts and fiend battles her parents had told her and Vidina.

"How come?" Dustin asked her while Tarak struggled to pull together a more compelling argument.

"Because my little sister's worried. My parent's are acting weird about it, and then Tarak brings me this? _Nothing_ scares my dad. And he's worried about something now, just as all these things start kicking off. It's bad enough that he was worried about letting me go so far from home for a stupid art class – if he knew I was running around Spira on an airship with _you_," she rounded on Tarak angrily. "He might just die of anxiety! No way, I'm not doing that to him."

Tarak spent a few more minutes trying to persuade her to change her mind, and when he failed he turned to Dustin, who gave him a raised eyebrow until he left in disgust, muttering darkly to himself.

Bayla sat back down on her stool with a scowl and glowered at her canvas broodingly.

"Don't think I've ever seen Tarak get told like that," Dustin said out loud.

She snorted derisively. "He didn't get _told_."

"You shut up him though. That's pretty amazing in itself," he chanced a smile at her, and she grinned back.

"Yeah. Maybe next time I should cram a rag in his mouth,"

They laughed at the idea, and went back to work in comfortable silence. It wasn't until much, much later that they broached the subject again – when they were convened in their dorm building with Vidina who had had to listen to Tarak's whining all afternoon.

"What'd you _do_ to him, eh? Anyone'd think you'd bitch slapped him."

"My dad would flip if I was swanning off around Spira with Tarak in charge!" she argued back, prodding the spaghetti in the pot on the stove. "Dusty, am I doing this right?" she added nervously.

"Just let it boil a bit more." He said patiently, surreptitiously adding more oil while Bayla turned her back.

"It's probably nothin', ya?" Vidina said bracingly, grating some goats' cheese. "Tarak just wants a little adventure in his life, and he thinks now's the right time."

"What about Uncle Wakka? Or your mom? Lu'll _kill_ you if she finds out you're doing something stupid and most probably dangerous. Hell, she'll probably kill _me_ too if my mom doesn't get hold of me first."

"Well, maybe there's a good explanation for those letters, ya? Maybe the fiends are just a little out of hand now, and they'll calm down again in a few months time. Doesn't the world go through stages like that when things change before going back to normal? El always said so, and she's been studyin' that stuff for years now."

"Yes," Bayla said vehemently, stabbing the spaghetti with a serving spoon. "Sage words from the woman who went bobbing for snapping turtles for a bet while _sober_."

"What?" Dustin snorted. He was starting to think this infamous Zandal woman Bayla and Vidina held in such high respect had been even worse than the lot of them put together when she had been their age.

"You don't want to know," Bayla grimaced at him. Then, to Vidina she said, "But that's beside the point. My answer is _no_. I am _staying_ here in this base where Shulay can see me and where my parent's know I'm alright."

"Gees, you never _used_ to care." Vidina sniffed. "You were the one who wanted to run off and spread your wings and do your own thing. You really gonna be daddy's little girl and stay put now?"

Bayla held the steaming spoon up from the pot like a weapon and pointed it at his throat, hissing, "I will use this."

Dustin was beginning to feel that he shouldn't put anything past this girl. Apparently, Vidina already knew this, because he didn't push her any more. The food was finished, and they ate in silence before Vidina left to help Tarak with his airship. Dustin and Bayla ended up in her room playing their guitars and sketching from some photos they had been given by the instructor earlier that day. Then Bayla pulled out a think folder of papers and started writing in the Zandal script with a ballpoint pen, cursing quietly about the required writing materials.

"What are you writing about?" Dustin asked before he could stop himself.

"A rare herb that grows on the highest peaks of Gagazet, and blooms only once every ten years. It has the properties of healing and poisoning, depending on which part of the plant you stew for so many hours, and depending on the concentration at which you add it to normal tea it can do a number of things to the human body that I really don't give a shit about." She glowered at the paper before her. "I liked the leeches, they were more fun."

"Eww."

"But it's true! Hey, listen to this," she extracted another piece of paper and read from it, translating as she went. It was about Kilika leeches, and Dustin had to admit, they did sound a lot more interesting and fun to work with, what with the added task of catching the damn things in the first place when with a plant you just cut the stem and were down with it.

"You enjoying it, though? Studying herb lore, I mean." Dustin asked.

"Yeah, it's really interesting, but it's really hard as well. I have little time to do my art," she gestured at the stack of large sheets she had been putting all her work onto, neatly folded on top of the desk where they were slowly gathering dust. "It's worth while, but I wish I had some more free time on my hands."

"Mmm," Dustin agreed. "I'd like to see more of you in the art room. I- I mean," he hastily tried to recover as she gave him a raised eyebrow. "It'd – you know, just nice to see you more often, not with your nose stuck in a book on plants!" he gulped, dreading the impact his words would have.

Again, she surprised him when she said, "Are you kidding me? Vidina and Tarak think it's the best thing ever! They rarely see me, and when they do most of the time I have my nose buried in a book. They absolutely love it!" Then she gave him a sly smile and went on, "Though you might want to think about your choice of words, because most people would have taken that the wrong way."

Dustin laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, about that…"

"Meh," she shrugged. "No big deal. Anyway, wanna hear about the killer mantis of Remiem?"

"The…_what_?"

Bayla lifted a photo from her pile of notes and showed him a large, bulky looking praying mantis. "The Killer Mantis of Remiem! It's a joke between my dad and El – apparently, Aunt Rikku nearly fell over the side of the temple walls because one of these bad boys jumped onto her face. They're harmless really; no venom or poisons or anything. They're actually kinda boring, but the back story to them that Shulay told me is hilarious!"

"I think I've seen one of those," Dustin shuffled over for a closer look, something stirring in his memory. "Yeah, my mom showed me one once. I remember I wanted to keep it as a pet, but she wouldn't let me."

"Let me guess, something like 'he needs to be with his own kind'?" Bayla asked.

"Yeah." Dustin laughed, remembering how heart broken he had felt at the time – the sheer injustice of being denied a pet insect. "And it wasn't a _he_. _She_ was gonna be Pik, and she was gonna be my sidekick when I went on my grand adventure to discover the lost location of the original Al Bhed civilisation." It wasn't until he'd finished speaking that he realised he'd just told Bayla something he'd never told anyone outside his blood family – and that he had just spoken freely about his late family without the trail of thought leading back to dark and dangerous reflection.

She snorted with laughter. "Wow, really? You were gonna call her _Bug_? And gees, I didn't know you had such an ambitious dream! And I thought visiting each temple to make a summoner's scrapbook was the height of ambition."

Dustin was still reeling from the shock of having told her such a personal secret, but she chatted on regardless for which he was grateful.

"Pent's bad enough – unimaginative and dull. But _Pik_? Were you even trying?"

"No, not really." He admitted, putting the photograph down. Eventually finding his voice again, he asked, "So…you want to make a temple scrapbook?"

"Yeah," she smiled sheepishly. She had been trying to be a bit more open about her parents recently, and it still felt a bit weird to think the woman Dustin had scoffed at on the sphere was Bayla's _mother_. "I kinda want to see the places my mom's been to, you know. I've been in Kilika, seen Djose from the outside…never been in the Bevelle temple, and I doubt I'll get to Remiem or see the Baaj Ruins. And no _way_ am I going into the Zanarkand Ruins. That place is a death trap,"

They talked on a bit more about stories they had heard of travellers visiting the temples – both before and after the calm. They were interrupted when the lights flickered and died, and then suddenly someone from downstairs screamed loudly.

Dustin was on his feet in an instant, and he heard Bayla fall over in the darkness as she tried to do the same, cursing loudly. "What happened?" she muttered, crawling in the direction of the desk.

"Dunno," he fumbled his way to the door and fell into the corridor. He yelled in Al Bhed, "What happened?" to no one in particular, and someone called back saying it was an electromagnetic storm.

"Again?" Bayla groaned, striking a match and lighting a candle.

"Apparently," Dustin sighed, using the light to open the blinds over the balcony door. Outside was near pitch black, with a hint of purple to it that was accentuated by the sudden fork of lighting that rent the sky in two.

Bayla jumped, nearly dropping the candle, and swore again. "I _hate_ these storms! If there's lightning there's got to be thunder too! It's just not _natural_,"

They gave up on work, since there was too little light to work by. Bayla lit another candle and gave it to Dustin so he could find his way back to his room. They said good night and went their separate ways; lying in bed for hours after, both pondering what the other had said that evening until the small hours of the morning.

XOXOX

Dinner was shaping up to be a quiet affair that night; the day had been a long and hectic one, and Tidus was tempted to fall asleep right where he was on the sofa, but instead he wrote out one report card after the other. Yuna was just boiling water for some rice, nothing too complicated or fancy tonight. Deka and Zuo had gone down to the beach with some friends to practise for the team, and wouldn't be back for a while yet.

So when they did pitch up not a few moments later, with the rest of their friends in tow, it came as a surprise.

"Dad!"

"Sir, we found something on the beach!"

"Let _me_ tell him!"

"Daddy," Deka flopped onto the cushion beside him, her cheeks flushed. "We were practising for the team, and then Zuo hit his head on a chest in the sea doing a dive,"

"Hey!" Zuo snarled indignantly.

"And then we heaved it onto the beach, and it's got this weird stone tablet in it and some other stuff we're not sure what it is. We don't know what to do with it,"

Tidus looked from his daughter to the group of kids in his kitchen with surprise before flipping the report over his shoulder. "We'll be back," he told Yuna before they left, and he took care to grab an old armoured blitzball he sometimes took with him on evening walks.

The beach was calm, the sea was calm, the sky was a flawless peach fading into the far off sunset; the very picture of tranquillity but for the chirruping birds that fluttered around the clumps of trees on the cliffs, seeking food before flying back to their vigil at the Temple. The sand was churned up around the chest they had dragged onto the shore, and the rock they had used to break it open was lying to one side.

"Okay, show me what you found,"

Zuo and his friend Dan pointed at the thick stone slab, which Tidus carefully lifted up and laid out on the sand. Deka and a couple of the girls were fidgeting with the other artefacts inside, all of which were very shiny and colourful and reminded Tidus of something.

"I think that's Zandal?" said Dan uncertainly. He was a scrawny, gangly youth with dirty blonde hair and a crooked nose he had broken when he was five falling out of a tree. "It's got the sun seal in the top corner…" he added doubtfully.

Tidus frowned down at the tablet. It was Zandal, that much was true, but he barely recognised any of the words or symbols; the glyph used to denote an aeon was set next to a carving of a flower he couldn't distinguish, when an aeon was almost always sat beside the symbol for a summoner, unless it was surrounded by waves, in which case denoted Sin. The 'sun seal' Dan thought he had seen was actually a weather crest – one Tidus hadn't seen before. Each tribe had a different style of writing and a variant of glyphs, and they may have spoken different words but it was generally pretty easy to figure out and read in another dialect because the pictograms were often the same. This, however, was something completely different.

"What else is in there?" he asked, setting it aside for now.

There were two glass bottles with exquisite detail, one of which had a stopper made of metal and cork stuck in its neck. The rest were all objects that could have been anything, since they didn't look like anything Tidus had ever seen. The only thing he could identify was a necklace strung with what had the shape and appearance of pearls, but with what looked like iridescent opals. One girl was gazing at it longingly, and Tidus gently had to pluck it from her grasp.

"I think we'd better let a professional take a look at it first, don't you?"

"But it's just a necklace," she wheedled hopefully.

"Jessica, you're pretty enough already without wearing a shiny necklace to draw attention away from it. Let's get everything back in the chest and take it up to the temple, okay?" he gave the ball to one of the older kids, who strutted in the lead back to the village bursting with pride at being trusted to head the group back. A couple of the boys including Zuo helped to carry the chest, while the rest walked around them, chatting excitedly about what had just happened.

Once the chest was safely stowed with the priests in the temple, Tidus shooed the kids back home and took his own children back to theirs. Yuna listened attentively while they recounted the events, and while Zuo was busy fantasising about where the chest could have come from Deka sighed dreamily about the necklace.

"It was so _pretty_, mom! Like if you took pearls and opals and put them together, or something."

"That's one weird mutant crab," Tidus said offhandedly, making them both giggle.

"Or maybe," Zuo said excitedly. "The chest came from a race of giant mutant sea crabs _waaay_ to the south, and they're sending the chest as a warning before they come and destroy our civilisation and colonise the land!"

Deka looked startled, Yuna raised an eyebrow, but Tidus just sighed.

"End of the world again? Must have missed the memo."

"But it _could_," Zuo insisted. "You got no proof that it _couldn't_."

"But it's obviously Zandal," Deka pointed out. "How would giant mutant crabs be able to speak a Zandal language?"

"Ohh, I know! The Zandal are descended from the giant mutant crabs! That's how they know to speak in their tongue,"

Yuna shook her head despairingly. "That's just ridiculous,"

"Well, it'd explain why El's such a freak of nature," Tidus said before he could stop himself. He and the kids roared with laughter while Yuna gave him an icy look.

"You are not _helping_ the matter."

"Oh come on, it was funny!" he laughed.

Deka and Zuo were still arguing over the issue when they went to bed, and for a time were calling through the walls of their rooms until Tidus told them to pipe down. Once he was sure they were asleep he took the communicator they normally reserved for talking to Elodie with, and tried to pick up a signal to Bikanel. After fifteen minutes of failed attempts, he tried Bevelle, with a similar result. When he failed to get hold of El's personal communicator as well he gave up on the exercise and went about writing a letter to Gippal, requesting a researcher to come look at the chest and its contents.

"What are you doing?" Yuna asked, joining him at the table, dressed for bed already. "It's nearly midnight."

"I couldn't get hold of anyone on the sphere waves," he told her. "So I'm sending Gippal a letter instead. I think that chest needs to be looked at properly."

"What do you think it is?"

"Dangerous, probably. The girls were all looking at that necklace really funny. And the rest of the stuff? I don't even know what it is. Better safe than sorry, right?"

XOXOX

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Tarak snapped.

Vidina looked up from the engine part he was tearing to pieces, and saw Dustin standing at the bottom of the gangplank. He looked like a man on a mission, and motioned for Tarak to come closer; Vidina followed, curious to see what was going on.

"Remember those papers you showed me and Bayla?" he said once they were in a secluded corner.

"Yeah, what about them?" Tarak demanded.

Dustin chanced a glance at the door to the hangar before he went on. "Bay and I were just passing your dad's office. We overheard him talking to Cid – apparently something washed up on the beach in Djose last week, and it's on its way to Bevelle to be examined. Something happened in Garret too, and they just got a message from Besaid saying they found some weird chest. And the sphere wave system's gone down all over Spira, not just here with the magnetic storm the other night."

Vidina looked from Dustin's concerned look to Tarak's deep frown. "What we gonna do?"

"I'll tell you what, we're gonna get this heap of junk fixed and go do our own investigating," he growled to himself.

"That's not all," Dustin said quickly. "They were talking about bringing everyone in the camp on that jungle island with the ruins back. The wildlife there went mental as well, apparently. Then when Bayla and I were going back to the art block we ran into this woman she knows who said that her mentor's not gonna be back for another month because they're all going back up to Garret for some sort of council of elders meeting."

"This woman, she got Shaman braids? Wearin' green with a massive Burgen covered in Zandal animals and a mourning braid?"

"Err, yeah I think so."

"What the hell!" _How dare Elodie drop by without saying hello! _Vidina was pissed off.

"Where is she now?" Tarak asked. "We could get some answers, she'd tell us, I'm sure of it."

"She left. Said she had to get the next airship to Gagazet. Bayla's tutor's already there apparently,"

"Puh! Typical," Tarak snarled, pacing back and forth in the confined space. "We're adults now, and they can't do us the curtsey of treating us like we are. We have a right to know what's going on!" he shot Dustin a furtive look. "_You_ get on with Bayla, right? _You _persuade her to come with us once the ship's fixed."

"I can't." Dustin said flatly. "She already told you she doesn't want in. How could I make her change her mind?"

"I dunno, flatter her! Make her see it like the adventure it really is and she'll take the bait,"

"Erm, bro?" Vidina said tentatively. "Bayla's pretty stubborn, ya? She stated why she doesn't wanna go, and considering the way things round the world are looking now, I doubt she'd change her mind. I'm guessin' she might want to go back home soon, ya? For her parents, but also for her. She's always been a homin' bird."

"But Bayla loves breaking rules," Tarak protested.

"Not when it means someone could get hurt. You shouldn't have told her about the letter to her mother, it's got her worried sick now."

They scraped for a bit longer over it, until Tarak stalked off angrily to continue his tinkering. Vidina turned to Dustin and said, "Just keep an eye on her for me, ya? I know she doesn't wanna get involved and all, but she's gonna stumble on somethin' sooner or later that drags her in. It always happens," he was about to walk away and join Tarak when Dustin spoke up.

"You think it's headed in a bad direction." It wasn't a question.

"I'm thinkin' that as long as we don't let the daydream of an adventure get in our way, we can weather it. But," he added, confessing his mounting inward fears. "I kinda get the feelin' that we're treadin' in deep water here. Just take care of Bayla for me while I'm not round, ya?"

And he left Dustin standing in the corner to go help with the airship's engine.

XOXOX

It was with grim faces that the council assembled, and Elodie felt the uncomfortable swoop in her stomach of déjà vu. It felt like the councils that had been held in Luca and the southern end of the High Road during the reign on Sin – the dire need that drove the tribe's elders and wise people together, now fuelling this current meeting.

Any happiness left over from the whale's passing was gone now, even though the whales had unexpectedly stayed within the area, swimming around the ruined city and still weaving their ethereal song.

"This reeks of bad news," Shulay murmured softly below the thrum of voices.

El nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She had only seen Bayla once – so briefly it couldn't count as a meeting at all – and she knew that a lot of research teams were being recalled to the base at the moment. The warriors sent to tackle the fiends were hard pressed, and whispers of unease were multiplying in the markets around Spira.

"What do you think, Star-Facing-North?" she asked, using Elodie's Adult Name.

"I would have liked my brother here for this council." She said through gritted teeth.

"There was no time. And he would only worry more."

"I know." she sighed heavily, wondering what she was going to say to him when she finally got round to it.

The oldest member of the Stroma – a man far older than even Maester Mika had been before he had been sent – stood up from his seat at the East end of the circle about the fire, and cleared his throat. The silence that fell was thick and immediate – all held Elder Ragon – 'Singing Eagle' – with the highest respect.

"My family," he called, a strong voice that contrasted with his frail appearance – his skin had that thin, papery quality to it, and his eyes were misting over as the years accumulated in him like dust on a shelf. "We are convened here to discuss matters as grave as the times of The Prolonged Sin." Everyone was silent. "As you can see, only some of us are present. Our oath family has not been invited,"

There was a momentary stir of conversation that was dispelled by a flick of his hand.

"They have been left for a reason. The Elder's of Garret have a secret that even I was not privy to until just recently, when the natural order of this world was tipped. There is a story told by our people – not just our Stroma, but by every Zandal clan in Spira. Our cousins are even now telling their children of this story, as I am about to tell you." he paused for breath, before continuing.

"Before The Prolonged Sin, before the temples and the faith of Yevon were erected, there were summoners. Zanarkand," he nodded towards the ruins. "Traded with our forefathers. There were aeons of a different sort, located far from here. They gave the power to the summoners. The place of these hidden fayth has fallen out of our knowing, but we know that they existed. The Fayth for the summoners of Pilgrimage were created when The Sin was, and placed across Spira. Any aeon that fought the beast became The Sin in turn. But there was one who never made that change, for the young Twisted Half Child used his mother's sacrifice for his own ends, and his life energy was not taken from him in the summoning of this aeon to create The Sin anew."

Elodie stirred, anger and satisfaction mingling in her blood as she remembered striking down Seymour Guado before Yuna sent him to the Farplane.

"This was to start the motion of the prophecy." Their Elder went on. "For The Twisted One's mother was the last Fayth to give their life that did not connect with The Sin in the usual way." Here, he looked directly at Elodie. "The purpose of this was to inform the Keepers of The Secret when the time to move was, but the event was shrouded, and the signs were not read. Now, I fear maybe now it will be too late. The story says that after the number Thirteen, the counting begins; we will have until the end of the Celebration of The Stars, next year, at which time the Dream Walker shall have access to the Forgotten Fayth. The rest of the tale has been lost to us." He looked grave and sad by this news, and many of the silently watching crowd exchanged looks ranging from surprise, to alarm and dismay.

"J-airai Anarltuh Flaygraata Say-bowna Nellk Barr Stroma." Elder Ragon said loudly, and Elodie jumped as all eyes turned to her. "Rise."

She stood slowly, stretching her cramped legs, and walked across the assembled group to stand before him. She bowed, and he kissed her once on each temple. Then he took a single flower from his pocket and deftly wove it into one of the many braids that were hanging over her shoulders. It was a tiny bloom, one that once it flowered would never wilt or close provided you cut it at the right time. They were pretty rare these days, especially in the lands north of Gagazet.

"Higher Shaman. Guardian of the High Summoner. You know more of these things than most – you have walked that Far Off Plane and come back to tell the tale alive."

"I did it with help from friends, never by myself." El said evenly, quaking under the gaze of the highest-ranking person of her tribe.

Ragon smiled. "And that which makes your character so strong is that which we need for this task. For your clan, your people, and for Spira – it is your job to find and protect the Dream Walker."

"And if I did this," she asked, feeling the tension of the congregation mount. "What would I do then?"

"Help them find the Forgotten Fayth. Unravel this story, do what you must; what little we do remember is that if they are not the one to find the Forgotten Fayth, then they of Black Hearts shall find them first, and then we shall be doomed as surely as if Yu Yevon arose once more with another Amour of Sin to purge this world of everything we worked so hard to achieve."

Elodie gulped, looking around the people gathered in the fire's circle, catching her blood sister's eye and looking away from the face her second cousin was pulling. Then she spotted Shulay, who nodded slowly and calmly – giving Elodie the strength she needed to answer.

"Yes, I will." She said firmly.

_Oh sweet zombie Jesus_… she thought to herself, echoing a sentiment Tidus had once expressed in the face of an obstacle.

XOXOX

It wasn't for another week until someone got back to Tidus about the chest; another Zandal who he was good friends with was dispatched from Djose to take a look. She arrived at the weekend, early Saturday morning by ferry, so the kids were still asleep and couldn't stick their noses into it.

"Hey!" she called, jumping lithely from the gangplank as they came to a halt.

"Good to see you, Mina," he grinned, giving her a hug.

Mina was an inch shorter than Tidus, with wild blonde hair that reached her waist and what the Zandal termed 'Wall-Eyes'. One was a clear, ice blue while the other was additionally one-third chocolate brown. Like El, she had a more flexible Zandal wardrobe, and only the extensive tatts on her arms showed that she was an Alpha Shaman. The braids were kept to a bare minimum, mainly because her hair often ended in a ponytail or a fat plait when she was dealing with animals. True, today she had brought a dog along with her, one with an attitude that tried to bite Tidus when he went to say hello.

Instead of berating the dog for bad behaviour, Mina grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, looked deep in its eyes and growled at the back of her throat. The dog placidly slid to the ground where it stayed after she let it go.

"Sorry about that," she said, tugging at the strap of her Bergen. "It's this new fad to breed dog-wolf hybrids, and people don't know how to look after them right. I rescued this one from a puppy farm, now I've got to beat some sense into him."

True, now that he looked closer, Tidus could see the wolf in him. "What's his name?"

"Tikka. Well then!" she clapped her hands together before swinging her arms back and forth, stretching her muscles. "I didn't get much information about what's happened, care to fill me in on the way up?"

Tidus explained as they walked back to the village, Tikka having to be put back in her place several times as she chased animals and bit their legs. By the time they reached the gates, Mina was frowning.

"This month just gets worse and worse," she murmured to herself.

"What's happened? Everywhere seems to be going mad recently."

"That's a good estimation, and a fair bet." Mina nodded sadly. "Maybe Elodie hasn't said, but most blood members of each tribe with higher roles were called together by the tribe elders. Something about a prophecy made before the Machina War, that's fallen out of knowing for centuries. Each Tribe has a representative that's supposed to be looking for someone concerned with it. They all seem to have a connection to a summoner in one way or another,"

"Who's the Stroma?" Tidus asked, wondering why only a few select blood relatives had been called – usually the Zandal encompassed everyone, by blood and adoption both. In truth, he was a bit miffed he'd been left out, but he would have been unable to attend anyway since he was needed at school.

"I think its El. Well, the Stroma were known for producing good guardians, but guardian to the High Summoner? She would win hands down. Only now she's taken leave from the research programme and disappeared as far as I know. Shulay's running round like a headless chicken too – I think she mentioned she teaches your eldest daughter now, no? Well, she will probably disappear sometime soon, too. Where to exactly I haven't the faintest."

Tidus nodded, then said, "Through here," and led the way into the temple. As they stepped inside, the chattering of the birds ceased entirely.

"The birds are more…_energetic_ than I remember," Mina said dryly.

Tidus chuckled. "It would be more worrying if it wasn't so irritating."

"Kilika's gone mad too. All the temples have – even Remiem. The Omnitara there have problems with the plants."

"I'm not sure I want to know anymore," Tidus grimaced.

Mina frowned with apology. "I hope our brave representatives find a solution soon."

Tidus showed her the chest the kids had found, and explained the story behind its discovery. Mina examined the broken lock, each of the items inside in turn, and paid close attention to the stone tablet. She took some crayon rubbings of the inscription before hand drawing it with ink on some parchment, annotating round the edges as she went. "I don't understand any of this – any symbols I do recognise are in a position that makes no sense…" she pondered on it for a while before eventually giving up and conceding that she would have to go look it up in a book somewhere. Finally, she picked out the necklace from the rest of the objects with disgust and said, "Did anyone wear this?"

"No. A few of the girls were drooling over it, but I made them put it back. No one's opened the chest since."

"Wise. How strong are your magicks?"

"Kinda still there," he admitted, smiling sheepishly. Lulu often berated him for now keeping in practise; his time magicks were rusty at best., and his healing spells had gone completely out the window.

"Here," Mina placed it on the palm of his hand, before enveloping it with both of hers. "Feel that?"

It was like feeling for a pulse on an obscure part of the body, like the leg as opposed to the wrist or neck.

"Yeah."

"There's an entity within it. It's very old, and I don't know if it's benevolent." Mina glowered at the beautiful, iridescent necklace that shimmered in the torchlight. "I may take this particular piece with me. My superiors in the order may be able to tell me more, or at least point me in vaguely the right direction."

"Take it," Tidus insisted, happy to be rid of the damn thing.

"And these," Mina nodded at the other objects, musing again. "They remind me of something…"

"I thought so too," Tidus agreed. "Couldn't think what it was…" he cast a sidelong glance at one; a circular piece wrought with thick wires that almost resembled a crown. It reminded him of a Crucifixion display he had seen at a Catholic mass when he was twelve, though no one in Spira would know what he was talking about if he said it out loud. Yuna had stared at him blankly when he tried to explain what _Easter_ was.

"May I take the whole chest?" she added, slowly piling everything back inside. "Its obviously been in the sea a long time, it's covered in weed and – ah! A starfish! Go away mate – anyway, it was built to withstand the tides and the ocean. So, if you don't mind me taking it…?"

"No, by all means!" He would be glad just to get rid of it – one less thing to worry about would be most welcome.

"I think…" Mina took the necklace and wrapped it up securely in a large square neck scarf from inside her Bergen. "That can stay in my bag where no one can see it. And _this_," she hefted the stone tablet into her arms. "This'll need wrapping up. It'd be a shame to let something this beautifully carved get damaged. Plus it's probably important,"

They managed to wedge it inside her bag, bulked out with lots of old rags and tea towels. Once that was done, they left the temple, and Tidus invited Mina to stay for a while with the promise of tea. She didn't stay too long, just long enough to say hi to Yuna and the kids, and have one cup of her preferred rooibose. Since she was determined to run some more investigations and get back to him with the details as soon as possible, Mina ran to catch the next ferry for Luca, seen off by Deka and Zuo.

While the kids were down at the pier, Tidus had a moment to tell Yuna what little he had learnt. She was surprised at first to hear that Elodie hadn't told him what was going on, and then she frowned with concern when Tidus repeated what Mina had said about the council meeting she had attended with his own tribe.

"Things are starting to look bad," she said eventually after an agonisingly long and pregnant pause.

"And you're still not sleeping well," he pointed out.

"Coincidence." Yuna said swiftly, turning back to the bread she was toasting. "Think you can get hold of El soon and ask her what the Stroma had to say?"

Tidus rolled his eyes at her avoidance tactics, but passed no comment. Instead, he whiled the rest of the day away helping Deka and Zuo with their Al Bhed homework, in between writing down a letter to his adoptive sister when he had a moment, trying to ignore the birds who were still singing wildly outside by the temple.

XOXOX


	13. The Stirrings Begin

**AN: hello people! I know I haven't updated in forever, mainly because life became manic and then when is began to settle my computer literally fell to pieces…but now I have a new shiny one and I have managed to get the feckin' word document program I use that I actually understand and has a SPELL/GRAMMAR CHECK THAT WORKS.**

**(basically, I can't deal with technology and it can't deal with me xD)**

**anyways, after a massively long delay, here is the next chapter! And I hope to be updating again VERY soon! :)**

_**The Stirrings Begin**_

Rikku walked into the canteen, sighing deeply and rubbing her eyes in a vain attempt to free herself of the ever-pressing need for sleep. Three airships, two shuttles and about a dozen hovers had either crashed badly, merely crash landed, or simply disappeared in the last week. Baralai and Nooj were requesting additional troops, and to recall all operatives on research teams so they could weed out whatever spies or individuals of a nefarious nature were on the roads without large groups of researchers around to cover their tracks.

The big question was, spies for what? Gippal was convinced it was the Epoch Division, but her father had shot him down almost instantly when he voiced these suspicions, so he'd spent the last three days buried under paperwork trying to find a trail that lead to them. She knew some of his papers had been mislaid somewhere, most probably not on his desk anymore, but still on the base. Rikku had her eyes narrowed at Vidina and Tarak, who were hell bent on getting their airship into gear and off the ground as soon as possible. She was certain they were either in on the bad news leaking out, or were trying very hard to _be_ in on it.

"I am actually going to kill him."

Rikku's ears pricked up when she heard Bayla's voice. Looking down the line of people in front of her, she saw about three spaces along Dustin had his back to her while he looked at Bayla.

"You say that so often, and yet he's still standing," he teased, ladling noodle soup into a bowl on his tray.

"I tell you, Tarak's a dead man walking!" she scowled, stabbing moodily at a dish of baked pasta and cheese. "Are there onions in this?"

"I think he wants a healer on his team." Dustin said meditatively, reaching for a coffee jug. "You're getting pretty good at it,"

"Yeah, considering I'm reading out of a book." Bayla snarled. "I never do well with text books! I was learning just fine when my _teacher_ was actually here,"

"Where is Shulay, anyway?"

They had finished gathering their food and walked away from the dessert stand. Rikku surreptitiously grabbed her own food and followed them to a slightly crowded corner where she wouldn't be noticed by the youngsters. Brother gave her a sleepy greeting as she sat down, and Rikku pretended to listen to the researcher regaling the table with a story about hunting in the Calm Lands whilst trying to tune into the conversation behind her.

"…Couldn't you get another tutor instead? Not saying replace her or anything, but-"

Bayla sighed, and Rikku imagined her running a hand through her hair the way Tidus sometimes did. "No. El's the one who brought me here, my parents trust her judgement, and they know Shulay too. They won't let me go off with someone they don't know. My dad would be pretty pissed if I did,"

"It's your life, right?"

"Hey," Bayla snapped. "Maybe I _am_ a daddy's little girl still, but I don't want him to worry about me, especially not when everything's gone tits up. Deka's pretty wound up right now. And even my _brother_ sent me a letter about it. That's saying something, he's way too proud to admit he's scared most of the time."

Rikku's table burst out laughing, and she tried not to frown as she waited for it to die down again.

"You think you'll go home then?" Dustin asked in a low voice.

There was an incredibly long pause before Bayla spoke.

"I…don't know. It depends on what happens next. I mean…okay, _promise_ you won't tell,"

"Cross my heart, hope to die."

"Stick a needle in your eye?"

"A barge pole if it'll make you happy."

They both laughed.

"If Vidina needs help, I'll go with them. If it'll help in general, then I'll go. If I can think of a good enough excuse to keep my parents from freaking out, then I'll tell them. If not…"

"Isn't your mom a skilled White Mage?" Dustin pointed out.

Rikku smiled at the opposite wall, thinking about her cousin.

"Yeah, but I only ever learnt time magicks and stuff. I always thought it'd be cool to be a Spirit Mage though! There's this woman my dad knows, apparently they met on the pilgrimage or something when she was five, but _she's_ a true Zandal Spirit Mage; animal spirits, earth magicks and everything. There aren't many round anymore, I don't think."

"Sounds pretty interesting." Dustin agreed. "You know that book I've been drawing from? It's got a whole chapter on Magus Blankets,"

"Oh yeah! My mom's got one the Stroma made for her when she got married. It's got this stylised image of the aeon Valefor on it, and-" she paused. "I guess you don't want to hear about that…"

"No, go on. I'm thinking I might do a piece on Zandal art next, it's really interesting the way they all use the same shapes but the patterns are all completely different,"

"Don't do Lasia'austra." Bayla advised him. "All they _ever_ do is crocodile, gator and caiman. It's so _boring_…"

A group of art students came to sit down with them just then, and any private conversation they may have continued with was drowned out completely. Rikku sighed and played with the food on her plate, thinking about the report she would have to write up on the dozen interviews she'd conducted with the newly returned teams.

Much later she was in her study writing up notes when Gippal flung the door wide open and swept in with a triumphant "Ha!"

"There is a protocol for entering and leaving work rooms," Rikku spat at him angrily. "It's called _knocking_. You should try it sometime,"

"I've got it!" Gippal flung something down under her nose for inspection. "Evidence! Baralai agreed with me, and I just got a word from Elodie too, and she also agrees with me. Ha!" he gestured at her as though she was the one he had proven wrong.

"You can stop pointing at me as though _I_ was the one who said you were delusional. I was in fact _supporting_ your argument to Pops,"

"But read this," Gippal insisted, shaking the papers at her.

Rikku scanned through them, her eyes growing ever wider as she made it further and further down the page. "What? They actually _caught_ someone?"

"Yeah, apparently they had a newbie working in the kitchens at the Bevelle palace, and he caught the rat bleeding information out. _That's_ how those hovers disappeared."

"And the shuttles and ships?" Rikku frowned down at Baralai's handwriting.

"Still looking. But the point is, he's an operative for that Division! I'm going to call Nooj and tell him the good news! Then maybe we can get a handle on the fiend problem too,"

"Oh please!" Rikku flipped the papers back onto her desk. "Maybe they sabotaged the hover links, by setting up a fiend den?"

"Never know. One of the Zandal scouts said that a lot of people bearing the Epoch crest were using Black Spirit Magic."

Rikku didn't even bother trying to explain the term; she was sure El or Tidus could beat it into his head for her next time they met up. The correct term would be _unbalanced_ magic, like how _Black Magic_ was _Offensive Magic_ and _White Magic_ was _Defensive Magic_. Having spent so long in El's company, even if it was years behind them now, it didn't change the fact that Rikku liked splitting hairs over the issue.

"Dammit!" Gippal slammed the communicator down. "Fine. Just, fine! I'll do it the old fashioned way," he grabbed pen and paper and stabbed at it as he wrote.

Rikku smirked, grabbing her own paper and quickly writing out a letter to Paine, asking for her own detached and biased opinion on the subject.

XOXOX

Tidus ended up getting home late that night because he and Wakka had had to see to two of their students who had broken bones running an obstacle course, and then a girl who had sustained a heavy nose bleed by being hit in the face with a blitzball. He was tired, and unhappy that so many people had been injured that day, and seriously considering just going to bed when he got home. That plan was scuppered when he entered his home to find Deka bouncing with excitement, and his sister sat at the table with the woman who was supposed to be teaching Bayla.

"Wassup?" El grinned, waving at him as Deka bounced with delight.

"Look who came to visit!" she squealed.

Tidus managed a tired grin. "I can see," he ruffled her hair and took a seat beside Shulay, who was dealing a set of cards to Zuo to play a game.

Yuna looked up from the pot she was stirring on the stove with a smile. "Good day?"

In response, Tidus lowered his head to the table and covered it with his arms.

"You look dead," Elodie said conversationally.

Tidus raised his head long enough to glower at her and say, "Thanks, El. Really appreciate it."

Conversation was light while they ate, exchanging amusing stories about what had happened in the mundane world until one of Deka's friends ran by to invite her and Zuo to her house for a sphere screening. Once the children were gone El sat up straighter and began to speak, but Tidus cut across her.

"I know about the special meeting."

"Dammit…"

"Good?"

"Nope." She fixed him with a look that never boded well. "I need help."

Tidus exchanged a brief look with Yuna. "What is it?"

"In short," she leant forward slightly and shook something onto the tabletop. "I'm taking Shulay with me to find this _Dream Walker_ for some old and half known prophecy that foretells the doom of the world."

Tidus just stared at her dumbly, not quite processing the information. "Huh?"

"It is connected to the Aeons." Shulay spoke for the first time in a while, and all turned to look at her. "Yuna, how many Aeons did you obtain on your pilgrimage?"

Yuna blinked, then started counting in her head. "Ten."

"Can't be!" Elodie turned to Shulay and spoke in Stroma, "That would make it more than thirteen! We'd be chasing the wrong trail then!"

"Are we counting Remiem as three or one?" Tidus pointed out calmly, his mind too tired to get as wound up as Elodie.

"Oh yeah…"

"I…_suppose_," Yuna said slowly. "They only ever appeared together…"

"Why thirteen?" Tidus asked Shulay.

The old woman turned her piercing gaze on him. "The stories say that there were thirteen Fayth, not including he that lay in the Dome of Zanarkand. I believe finding the location of these Fayth will help with the search."

"But what are you looking for?" Tidus asked.

"The Dream Walker, who's apparently going to open a vault or something by the end of the Star Festival, I still can't figure out where these other Fayth factor in. I thought the existing Aeons were all under Yevon's control before the Calm," El smoothed over the issue without bringing up too many painful memories, for which he was grateful.

"So what you're saying…" Yuna frowned, and Tidus resisted the urge to smooth the crease that appeared between her eyes. "Is that…there are other Aeons?"

"I don't know if it's the right term to use…" El pulled a face and gestured to the thing she had thrown onto the table earlier. It was a section of soft hide from some animal, with red dye depicting symbols Tidus didn't recognise. "It's really old," she gingerly spread it out so they could get a better look. "It doesn't call them _Aeons_," she frowned in puzzlement. "It says _Esper_ and then _Guardian Force_. I don't know if they refer to the same thing or to something entirely different. The glyphs are stylised in a way I don't recognise; I don't even know if I'm pronouncing them right."

Tidus picked it up and held it aloft to see if anything came through in front of the light; he found nothing but a long drained vein under the animal's skin, and his mood sank even lower. "Esper…I've heard of those before somewhere,"

"Really?" El leapt on this news. "What are they?"

Tidus shrugged offhandedly, a vague memory of the Abes' goalie waving his latest video game around in triumph. "An RPG thing." Elodie raised an eyebrow and he said, "Its like a game thing you play on a sphere…" he trailed away when he was met with three blank stares. "Ah, forget it!" He'd never liked video games much himself anyway, whatever category they fell under.

"I thought you were talking about these infamous rocket-propelled grenades Gippal's always on about." El eventually said, snorting with laughter.

"Sorry I can't help…" Tidus sighed. Months of ignoring the Abes' goalie had now sadly paid off.

"Actually, I think you can." El brightened up, while Shulay remained stoic. "If the two of us buzz round gathering up information, would you mind helping me to verify it?"

Tidus frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"_Dream_ Walker, Ti. I think you're more reliable source than most scholars about Zanarkand's history."

He snorted derisively. "Yeah right,"

"You know more than you realise." Shulay said, holding him in her sharp gaze. "I see you talking to scholars and learned people who claim they know about the city, and I see your derision. Zanarkand was home to the Summoners, not Bevelle – records of Zanarkand are where we shall look. You are more well placed than anyone in Spira to verify the records."

"Wait," his mouth had gone dry. "That's different."

"What? You complained about being forced to learn History at school," El butted in. "And you remember enough to complain about very specific events you were made to remember, that appeared in the Great Library." She grinned at him, ignoring his scowl. "I'm not asking you to go with us, just be on hand if we turn up here again and help us check over the data we bring."

Tidus weighed this up as he looked from one face to another. Shulay looked resolute and prim beside Elodie's grin. Finally, he looked at Yuna's encouraging smile, and made up his mind.

"Okay. I'll do it. But what's Bayla up to now?" he asked suspiciously.

"Learning art I think." El looked to her old mentor.

Shulay nodded. "She learns from books now. I hope to be back with her soon."

"If not?" Tidus challenged.

"I was thinking I might send up Katt if I can find her," El said conversationally.

Tidus burst out laughing, the tension in his stomach loosening at once. Mad old Katt, the Spirit Mage – a little girl he had first met in the Calm Lands on the way to Gagazet; five years old with a baby brother, orphaned by Sin and living with a caravan headed to Pilanel territory. His children had only met the girl – or rather woman, now – once before, but they had heard enough stories about her too, and she had even sent them a Zandal blanket one year for the festival that Tidus would have called Christmas if anyone understood what he was on about. It happened at the winter solstice, which was just a few days off from December 25th.

"Trying to turn my little girl into a witch?" he said teasingly in Stroma. A 'witch' was just a practitioner of magic in any form in the Zandal culture. Katt was a Mage, but she worked mostly with animals, as well as herb lore; her knowledge may not be as deep as Shulay's, but it was certainly broader. Last Tidus had seen of this girl was in Luca three years ago, spinning a tale of spirit bears in the far north and the great place where the whales were said to go to die.

Elodie shrugged. "I heard she's at Djose. I thought I would stop and ask her if we ran into each other. Are you happy for her to teach Bayla?"

"If Bayla agrees, then yeah," Tidus said after exchanging a look with and getting a nod from Yuna.

"Great!" Elodie clapped her hands together. "Anyway, I think its time we stopped intruding on your home,"

"Stay the night," Yuna offered, but she shook her head.

"Temple. We're scouring records while we're here,"

"I'll go get the kids," Tidus said, checking the time. "It's not the weekend just yet,"

XOXOX

Tamaki stood before his father's desk, hands clasped behind his back as the older man read through a report. It wasn't going well; the Zandal tribes had deployed teams of people looking into the same prophecy as they were, all attempts to lure the Lady Yuna into a trap had failed, and one of their spies in Bevelle had been found and thrown out – surely the Praetor was suspicious of the Epoch Division now.

His father looked up and motioned for Tamaki to sit down, which he did. "What is it now, my boy?" he asked smoothly.

Tamaki steeled himself, knowing that if he failed his own life force would be imprisoned in a glass vial. "I wonder, whether pursuing more than one quarry would be a better idea."

"And why is that?" the look in the man's eyes was a dangerous one.

"I believe that Sir Tidus is not the one we seek," he said carefully. "But one of his daughters. However, rather than trying to lure he and his wife into our hands, why don't we target his children?"

Tamaki's father frowned thoughtfully. "Go on."

The relief he felt did not stain his tone as Tamaki went on. "Whether it is his children or he himself – if his children were in danger he would come to their aid, and we would have them all."

"But," his heart sank as his father leant forward over the desk. "If this plan went awry, it would make us his enemy, and by extension the High Summoner as well. She has powerful friends in Spira, we would not want them too all turn on us. No, we want them to turn on each other first."

They both fell into a brooding silence for a while.

"Where are his children, by the way?"

Tamaki nodded at the report. "His youngest daughter and son are with them in Besaid, while the eldest is with the Al Bhed."

"Djose or Bikanel?"

"I am not sure. However, I do know one of the Zandal affiliated with the family recently left New Home and is seeking the same thing we are."

"Do they know who the Dream Walker is?" his interest coloured his voice.

"I don't know. They may or may not suspect him,"

"Hmm…" the next silence stretched on for even longer until Tamaki's father said abruptly, "I shall send our men to locate his daughter, and then launch a mission to secure her. I believe you are wrong, my boy – but I do believe this plan will bring our man out of the woodwork." He smiled.

Tamaki smiled back. It was all going _his_ way now.

XOXOX

"Woo!" Tarak ran into the kitchen, nearly running Bayla over with her freshly baked loaf of bread.

"Watch it, _Baka_!" she snarled.

"Listen!" he grabbed her and towed her to the table where Dustin sat watching with disdain. "Dusty, you too! The repairs are finished! A couple of days to tank up on fuel and supplies and we're _outta here_!" he struck a magnificent pose, hand pointed towards the window where beyond the glass panes and high square buildings the endless blue sky awaited adventure.

There was a long silence while he waited for them to react. Dustin was about to swear at Tarak, but he caught Bayla's eye and she winked before swooping down to pull him from his chair.

"Yey!" she enthused, grabbing his hands and bouncing on the spot. "He's going! _Finally_!"

Catching on, Dustin mimicked her movement and they both cheered, jumping up and down and celebrating the fact they were almost shot of him. Tarak glared at them in response and stalked off towards the door grumbling dire retribution in Al Bhed. Vidina passed him at the door, raised his hand in greeting with a grin on his face, but was given the cold shoulder. Bemused, he came further into the room where Dustin and Bayla were clinging to each other for support as they laughed themselves into submission.

"What's up with him, eh?"

"Nothing," Bayla wiped a tear from her eye. "Want some bread? I baked it just now!" she scooped up her abandoned loaf and wafted it in his face.

"Later maybe, I've got some papers to give one of the guys in the tech lab, ya?" Vidina grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. "Hey, the ship's nearly ready!"

Dustin turned to Bayla, who gave him a satisfied smirk that made him laugh again.

"We heard rumours," she said smoothly.

"Wanna take a spin in it before we leave?" Vidina offered.

Bayla's face fell. "I already told you,"

"Offer's there, ya? Besides! We could just go for a fly round the desert and drop you back here, eh? Where's the harm in that?"

Dustin watched the pained expression on her face as she struggled internally. "Maybe not?" he offered helplessly.

"Tarak would trick me into something," Bayla whined.

"I won't let him," Vidina said sincerely. "Anyways, I gotta go. Smell ya later, Bay, Dustin!" he aimed a playful punch at her before leaving the room.

Bayla watched him go with an almost wistful look, and said, "He doesn't make it easy for me to say no sometimes."

"Isn't that what almost big brothers are for?" Dustin asked.

"Nah, he's not my _almost_ big brother, he _is_ my big brother." she sighed deeply. "And an eternal thorn in my side."

There was a long pause until Dustin put a hand under the loaf she was holding and lifted it a few inches. "Toast?"

"Toast!" she grinned, and bounced off to the toaster in the corner that had been set on fire more than once recently by less than adept cookers. Luckily, Bayla had progressed to being able to cook simple meals, a category of which included the toasting of bread in a safe manner. They chatted away happily about everything and nothing, avoiding talking about possibly going with the _Kelvin_, and the most recent disturbances in the world. After a time, they fell into companionable silence, munching on toast and marmalade with cups of tea.

Bayla was looking through a book on plants oddly enough, and as she stared down each paragraph Dustin kept shifting his gaze between her, the table, the window and the walls. Listening to her fend off Tarak's pleads, knowing that part of her really did want to go, had solidified his respect for her; only he, Vidina, and Dustin's cousins knew who she was, and most people in their dorm building and art group liked her for what they saw – a sociable, affectionate, loud-mouth girl.

Watching her interactions with other people, and slowly watching his own progress from the wreck he had been when he had first arrived...

Part of him _wanted_ her to know about his family, but at the same time he was afraid that in telling her he would drive a wedge between them. Bayla was from a close-knit, loving family that had never been torn apart like his had been; Dustin felt on one level she would never be able to understand him, but also he didn't want to expose her to those horrors he had had to face himself. She admitted freely her naivety, and the worst loss she had suffered was her favourite dog when she was ten; her childhood had been light and airy with parents who had been alive and present. Could he bring himself to burden her with his darkness?

But there was also another problem, namely: was _he_ ready to face his darkness? All avenues that led down that trail of thought (that had become increasingly scarce in recent weeks) were full of a despair whose absence he was already too used to. Even if he _could_ bring himself to talk to Bayla about it, was he even ready to talk about it at all?

All these thoughts and more floated around his mind, clouding his present, and he jumped out of his skin when a hand appeared in his vision and snapped its fingers. He stared at Bayla in astonishment, and she appeared to be just as stunned by his reaction.

"Spira to Dusty!" she managed to laugh it off. "You gave me a freight! Jumpier than a chocobo at a restaurant,"

"Chocobo meat isn't widely eaten," he pointed out, shaking himself from his dark revery.

"They do in the Zandal tribes," she pointed out, and looked down to mark her page. "Never had it myself,"

"I guess Elodie has?" he asked, latching onto new conversation like a drowning man clinging to a rock.

"Oh yeah, and my dad. He didn't like it much..."

Dustin followed her as she got up to make tea. "How come."

Bayla fixed him with the part-frown-part-dreamy look she sometimes had when she was considering her words. "Said it tasted like gamy crocodile..."

"Huh?"

She whisked the kettle from one corner to the other with surprising speed, managing to multi-task the teacups, tealeaves and hot water into one smooth motion.

"Don't ask," she said ominously. She looked up when Dustin stared at her dumbly. "Wassup?"

Dustin shook himself. He wasn't about to admit to have been staring at her glossy chocolate coloured hair or fantasising about running his hands through it. "Just...thinking."

"That's dangerous round here,"

"Yeah," he laughed, hoping he didn't sound like an awkward twelve year old on the cusp of adolescence again.

"Or!" she suddenly spun round and grabbed him by the shoulders, startling him deeply. "Maybe you should pickle it in a jar! You never know when we might have another thought!"

Despite the very sudden and very close proximity, Dustin laughed. They both howled with laughter, leaving the tea to slowly cool by itself on the side.

"Yeah," he managed to say steadily, still giggling. "Between Vidina and Tarak, it's never gonna happen! Good thing _we're_ here,"

"I know!"

They had managed to calm themselves down before they left the kitchen, but walked into Tarak by the stairs, and left him mystified as they climbed up them, once again howling with laughter. All Dustin heard as they made it to the first landing was Tarak asking a fellow Al Bhed downstairs, "Did I miss something?"

XOXOX

Yasmine ducked into her father's study only to find him deep in conversation with a Zandal woman. She had been hoping for a more light-hearted conversation, but at the sight of the deep frowns on both faces she instantly quailed within.

"Ah," her father saw her just as she was about to try and slip out unnoticed. "Yasmine," he waved her over, and she came to stand by his side. "Yas, this is Mina à Pilanel, a friend of Elodie's. Mina, this is my daughter, Yasmine."

"Twould be nice to meet under happier circumstance," The blonde woman said gravely, shaking her hand.

Yasmine tried not to stare too intently at the woman's curious mostly blue, part brown eyes – it would be rude to do so.

"I fear the implications," Mina said to Yasmine's father, and she shrivelled to see his tired and weary acceptance of this opinion.

"As do I."

"What is it?" Yasmine asked tentatively.

Baralai sighed, and passed a hand over his eyes, but the Zandal woman spoke for him. "A curious tablet has shown up in triplet across Spira. I have one here from Besaid," she showed Yasmine the stone block with its weathered face and intricate carvings. "It speaks of thirteen Fayth, and one whose name is apparently interchangeable."

"How so?" Yasmine leant forward to get a better looked, and Mina pushed it towards her.

"I have been in contact with another Zandal who has seen another tablet like this. He told me about a _Walking Dream_. And he said another had told _him_ of a _Day Dreamer_. The council said we are looking for a Dream Walker to open a Cavern to a '_Forgotten Fayth_'."

"But," Yasmine looked up at her weary father and felt a pang in her stomach. "Surely that would refer to Yojimbo? That area is known as the 'Cavern of The Stolen Fayth'. Then it became the Forgotten Fayth because no one remembered it was there,"

Mina shook her head. "This is something completely different. My friend who is helping me at the moment thinks the 'forgotten five' are actually the five usual family totems; the cat, the bull, the dragon and the phoenix, and the shaman's animal totem."

Yasmine thought of Bayla's family and their own totem pole; Elodie was at the bottom, depicted as a wolf. She remembered so very vaguely that a Shaman's totem was that of the spirit, and could be any animal, including those of the regular family totems.

"She thinks that maybe not all the aeons were taken under Yevon's control during the reign of Sin."

"What do you think?" Baralai asked evenly.

"I don't know. There isn't enough to go on." she cast her eyes to the floor. "I'm very concerned about the state of affairs in the world."

"You're not the only one," he sighed, looking more tired and older than Yasmine had ever known him.

"We carry the burdens of Spira together." Mina said gravely. "Whether we recognise it or not. Often what effects one effects all – reality is a web we are all connected to. The Elders sing of the Old Stories again." She fixed Yasmine with a sudden, intense gaze that held her trapped like a mouse in a snake's mesmerising eyes. The stark blue and brown stood out more than ever in the available light. "I have not heard them since before the Calm. Not even Vegnagun prompted them to start speaking of the animal spirits, the Old Stories and Fables."

Then, quite suddenly – Mina drooped in her chair, and hand to her temple. Yasmine made to stand up and help her, but she raised her other hand and waved her away.

"Shaman have moments such as these. My friend Elodie avoids them like a plague. They are...quite draining. I see very difficult times ahead." she then fixed that sudden and direct gaze on Baralai. "Dissension in the ranks. Keep your friends close, closer than your enemy. Whoever said 'keep your enemies closer' was a fool."

"Of course," he nodded, his thinking face on.

"If I may poke around the library a bit more?" the tension seemed to have gone from her eyes now, and Yasmine blinked – uncertain whether she had really seen it. Everyone was tense these days anyway...maybe it was nothing.

"Yes, of course. Whatever you need, we'll spare the help."

"I don't want to detract from anything really important," Mina said hastily. "I saw the Myven of The Youth League before coming here,"

"How is Nooj?" Baralai asked, looking worried.

Yasmine thought of Andi, and fought the urge to gulp.

"He looks bad. He needs to sleep, but he keeps ploughing ahead and wearing his body and spirit down." she shook her head sadly. "Such are the times."

"Twenty-two years...it hasn't lasted long,"

Mina raised her head, and Yasmine noticed with another jolt that intense and scary look was back in her eyes. She had heard from Vidina and Bayla that some Shaman had the gift of the psychic, or a seer; Elodie couldn't handle the gift properly so she shut it down with her mage powers to protect herself. But Bayla said she had once met an ancient man who had told her about the one she would marry. Apparently he had lunged at her arm and held her there for five minutes talking quickly and intently to the tree behind her, over the top of her head; the experience, she had told Yasmine, was disconcerting and scary.

This certainly ticked all the boxes.

Mina paused for a moment, the words on her lips and the very tip of her tongue, before she went on to deliver the most chilling words she had said yet. In a voice that wasn't hers, with a sharp metallic edge to it, and an undercurrent whisper that sent chills down Yasmine's spine, and made her father jump to his feet.

"The worst is yet to come. Dreamers return from the Farplane, the stars move on in the sky. Many are hunted who play a vital part, but the one they seek for their purpose lies at the heart of the centre of knowledge. Five broken spheres open the gates of the Old Forest – our Fey Wood of yore, lost for more than ten centuries. They lie in the Dead Lands where the first blow that led to the rise of The Sin was dealt. Many a soul lies there that should float. Such is the state of affairs...such is the injustice of the world...The Fayth weep for us."

Mina wavered, becoming physically more fragile as her speech became more empowering and passionate. As the final line was delivered, she swayed in her seat, before slumping to one side in a dead faint.

They both got up to check her over, and as he felt for Mina's pulse Baralai said, "Go find one of the medics and bring them here immediately."

Yasmine raced out of the study without a word, her heart pounding painfully in her throat.

XOXOX

"Party time!" Tarak shouted, running into Bayla's bedroom and beating his fist on her desk.

"I told you the last time," she snarled at him, taking a book and raising it like a club. "Piss off and kiss the backside of a shoopuff for all I give a damn about your – _stupid air ship_!" she all but shouted to last three words.

"We're having a small party to celebrate!" Tarak said, ignoring her threats. "You guys should come too!" he looked expectantly at Dustin, who was perched on the end of Bayla's bed tuning up his guitar. "C'mon! It'll be fun, guys!"

"I'm good thanks," he yawned to emphasize his boredom.

"Beat it, Tarak, I'm busy working here unlike _some_ people on this base!" Bayla snapped.

"Oh, I get it." he grinned brightly. "You two wanna make out here, I won't stop you..."

Bayla launched herself at him and he sprang back with a yelp before bolting for the door. She landed painfully on her knees, managing to trip on her kit bag, and shouted after him, "Ever darken this doorstep again and I'll paint the lintel with your blood!"

"That's a bit drastic, ya?" Vidina stuck his head around the door and smiled at her warily. "He just wants to persuade you to come with,"

"Vid!" she sat back on her haunches, and whined piteously. "I can't justify it...what about my parents? Dad'll flip if I go off on a ship with _him_ in charge,"

"Probably just as well, eh? Look at this," he crouched down beside her to show her a book, and Dustin got up to join them. "He's got it in his head that there's a relic in the Calm Lands, from before Sin. He thinks it'd help with the fiend problem,"

"Would it?" Dustin asked as Bayla took the book and had a closer look.

"Who knows? Worth a shot, ya?"

"But why go to the swamps? _No_ one goes to the swamps. Zanarkand gets more visits than the Swamp of Sorrows."

"The...what?" Dustin didn't understand.

"It's the Spiran name for it." Vidina explained. "Something happened to the Omnitara clan up there hundreds of years ago – the Zandal won't go near it by oath and superstition. And also out of respect for the dead."

"The old Crusader's don't go near the Djose shore either," Bayla said darkly. "And the Zandal have an even longer memory. Did you know they remember all the way back to the last Ice Age?"

"Only the elders do," Vidina pointed out. "Their oral tradition is dying out.

"It'll pick up again, it always does." Bayla countered. "They still haven't recouped their losses from Sin."

"So what's Tarak ranting about?" Dustin asked, taking the book from Bayla so he could see what they were talking about.

It was written in Zandal, which he had yet to master (though he could sufficiently swear in Stroma now) but he looked at the diagrams and pictures, which seemed to show some sort of staff...

"It's a sceptre that apparently repels fiends, ya? Dunno how reliable the source is though; any number of things could be out there, not just what's in this book."

"And why are you looking for Zandal artefacts?" Bayla asked. "You could just ask the Zandal researchers round base, save risking your neck."

"I just got a feeling...a hunch, really." he gave Bayla a meaningful look. "And a really weird dream. Wasn't it your dad who said to never under estimate a dream?"

Bayla stilled, and the two of them looked at her in concern. Dustin brushed the back of her hand with his fingers, and she came back to life. "Just thinking," she said carelessly, not meeting their eyes. "About something my dad said at the Whale Fest."

"Okay. But you'll come to the launch party, ya?" Vidina began pleading. "I can't do it alone with Tarak! You gotta help me Bay,"

She rolled her eyes with exasperation. "I'll come to your stupid party..."

Vidina pulled her into a bone-breaking hug. "Thanks a bunch, Bay, you just saved my life!"

They exchanged insults, and the Vidina packed up his book and left. Bayla flopped down onto her bed and sighed; Dustin sat down at the foot of her bed and worried his guitar with his toe. He had put it down on the floor, and now he was too lazy to pick it up again.

"Yeesh," Bayla looked up at the ceiling. "How do I always get dragged into these things?"

"Natural talent?" Dustin suggested.

She snorted with laughter. "Yeah, everyone says that about my mom-" it sounded like she was going to continue, but didn't.

"What?" Dustin prompted, tapping her foot.

"What what?" she blinked deceptively up at him.

Dustin wasn't buying it. "You were gonna say something else."

"And I decided not to."

"Why?"

Bayla pulled a face, and then folded her arms and stared at the wall. "Because sometimes I feel like I go on about my family too much."

"I don't think so." He told her honestly.

"Really? Oh good!" she relaxed and smiled. "I sometimes think I'm careless about certain topics."

"Why would you think that?" Dustin asked mystified.

Bayla put on her best poker face – and he knew instantly she was worried and or upset about something. "Gippal told me to be careful what I say."

"Oh," Dustin looked down at his feet. His happy bubble burst, and he felt himself sliding into that dark gaping hole in his mind without a safety rope.

"If I...you know, _do_ say something out of turn, or whatever...or I make you uncomfortable...you will tell me, right?"

He clung to the safety she had just thrown him line with everything he had.

"You've never made me feel uncomfortable." he told her, staring at the floor.

"Gippal thought I was...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up...I...gah! I'm so stupid,"

"No, no. It's okay...really..."

He felt sick; like his stomach was about to rebel against the lunch they had made earlier and eaten together. Where had this come from? Usually these dark thoughts crept up on him when he was alone; it had only been that one time the day before when he had slid down that slope in her company.

"Look," the weight shifted and he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should talk about something else. I can see you're upset,"

"Am I that easy to read?" he asked dully.

"You already said before you don't want to talk about it. Let's talk about something else, then." she placed a hand on his forehead. "Do you feel okay? You look sick,"

He shook his head, not sure what he was agreeing or denying.

"Dustin...?"

"What?" his voice was hoarse.

"You're scaring me."

"Am I?" he laughed harshly, thinking of how she would be even more scared if he let his anger flare over his sadness. The injustice of what had happened to his family, it ate him up inside...

"And you're shaking." Bayla sounded worried, and he drove another splinter into his mangled heart. "I'm scared for you; you look like you're gonna be sick."

All this time he had been fighting the bile he knew was itching in his throat, staring at the floor. Just as she said this, he gagged, and toppled off the bed with a crash. Then he was heaving over the bin, waiting for his stomach to empty and the nausea to subside. Then he found Bayla leading him to the toilets, and he dumbly followed without protest. She made him rinse his mouth out, smeared something warm and sweet on his forehead and made him sip from a cup of lukewarm water flavoured with something vaguely familiar, like strawberries.

She led him back to her room and made him lie on the bed, grabbing a blanket and fussing over him as a mother would a child. "Maybe it was a bad pepper?" she said soothingly. "I didn't have any for lunch. You'll feel better," she made to get up and go back to her desk, but Dustin lunged for her hand.

She couldn't leave him here by himself, even if she was just on the other side of the room. All this time she had been a lifeline to him – if she let him go now he would fall into that dark depression where she could see his suffering. And then what? He couldn't tell if she returned any of his interest, and he couldn't ask her to – but at the same time if she was caring and fussing over him for _pity_...it would destroy him.

"What? Do you feel sick again?" she asked, concerned, feeling his forehead again.

"Don't go," he begged her, willing her to understand.

Bayla's eyes, the colour of the ocean, were clear and uncertain. "I'll just be over here,"

"Don't go!" He probably had a fever – delirious even.

Bayla sank onto the mattress beside him, torn between staying and going. "It's something else, isn't it?" she asked carefully. "I think you just ate something bad. But...Something's bothering you, too."

He couldn't tell her, he just couldn't...his mind tried to shut it down, and the force of it made stars pop in his vision until he realised he had been rubbing his eyes far too hard; and Bayla's hands were on his, holding them down at a safe distance so he couldn't hurt himself.

"Look, its obviously not the right time now, but...when you're ready to talk about it, I'll listen."

Dustin chanced a glance up at her; the kind expression, the face that recalled in him the kinship of the Al Bhed despite her pale skin, dark hair and blue _blue_ eyes. The sincere concern, the worry in her eyes – it was all real, and he could almost pretend that she returned his unspoken affection.

And then, just as she was about to say something else, that barrier that had dammed up his tears inside his mind where it had festered for so long, just simply broke. There were no other words for it; something snapped, and then he was bawling his eyes out. A small, dim part of him registered how undignified this was, but when a pair of slim, warm arms wrapped themselves around him, he clung to the embrace to keep him from drowning in his tears.

How long was he like that? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? It could have been a life time for all Dustin knew – all he was aware of was that his festering emotions were giving voice through his tears and sobs, and there was no quenching it now.

Finally, he became aware that he was no longer sitting up, and that there was an arch before him through which he could see the rest of the room. The arch moved, and he realised it was Bayla's throat; she was curled up beside him on the bed, holding him in her arms, and apparently asleep. The greyish light filtering through the open curtains suggested it was approaching dawn. How long had he been asleep? More's the point, how long had he been a dripping wreck to warrant so much sleep?

Trying to carefully slide out of Bayla's embrace, Dustin felt something brush against his cheek – it took him a few moments to work out it was her fingers. He tried not to think she was holding him so closely because of pity…

Someone hammered on the door, and Dustin closed his eyes to feign sleep. Bayla roused herself groggily; he couldn't see because his eyes were closed, but he felt her gently disengage herself from him, and then a sudden shift in the weight on the mattress as she fell off onto the floor. Before Dustin could react she had already picked herself up, cursing under her breath. There were footsteps leading away from the bed, and then the door opened.

"Where the hell have _you_ been?" Vidina hissed.

"Here, _moron_. Why?" Bayla muttered back.

"No one's seen you for _hours_!" he paused for a moment. "Or Dustin. We thought somethin' had happened to you…" his voice was strained.

"What could have possibly happened to us?" Bayla argued back.

"Well? What _did_ happen?"

There was another pause.

"Here," Bayla said, and Dustin heard the door being shut.

Despite himself, Dustin sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He stretched his cramped muscles and felt his aching forehead with his fingers – it felt like he was being repeatedly stabbed from within his own skull. He'd felt like this once before, after a really bad virus had left him throwing up for thirty-six hours – his mother had made him stay in bed for a week and forced him to keep drinking water to stay hydrated.

There was a low murmur of voices outside the room, but the words couldn't be made out. A few minutes later there was silence, and the door opened; Bayla was saying something to Vidina as she entered the room, he was obviously further down the corridor. She looked grim, but as she turned to look at the bed and saw Dustin sitting up he brightened.

"Hey! You feeling better now?"

Dustin didn't trust his voice, so he shrugged.

Bayla rushed to her desk, picked something up, and then hurried to his side. She sat down and handed him a little bottle. "Have a sniff of that. It'll stave off headaches."

Dustin followed her instructions mechanically, and spluttered as the thick aroma caught in his throat and made his eyes sting.

"Oops," Bayla grimaced and took the bottle from him, and stoppered it. "I think I left that to stew too long. It's a bit over powering…"

"Ya think?" Dustin wheezed, shaking his head to clear it. Miraculously the pain stabbing his skull was completely gone, though the back of his throat was burning.

"Hey, listen." Bayla said, putting a hand on his arm, making him freeze. "The great launch party's tonight. And it's about…" she checked his watch. "Five in the morning? I'm going to give Vidina moral support. If you don't feel up to it, or if you want an excuse to get out of it, I can call a sick card, but…"

"Nah," he looked at his feet. "I'll go."

"You sure? You're still pale, and you have a temperature…" she placed a hand on his forehead, and it did feel a bit on the cool side.

"I…" he didn't know what to say.

"Hey," Bayla took his hand in both of hers, and he forced himself to meet her gaze. She was calm and relaxed, completely reassuring; it made the tight knot in his solar plexus unravel. "Don't worry about it. My mom always says crying is a healer – it gets things off your chest and clears your head without having to say a word. Plus, you were pretty sick a few hours ago. That's never a good combination."

Dustin nodded, looking down at the floor again. Eventually, he said, "Thanks Bayla."

"Anytime." She said softly.

"And, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be." She said instantly.

Dustin shook his head. "I want to talk about it, but…I don't think I'm ready."

"My mom also says time is a great healer too." Bayla said conversationally.

Dustin looked up, and saw her smiling. He gave her a weak smile in return. "Come on," Bayla said, standing up and heaving Dustin to his feet too. "You need to eat something and go back to sleep. You'll feel better for it," He let her drag him all the way to the kitchen where she cut up a loaf of crusty white bread and spread a tiny amount of butter on each slice before placing it in front of him and not budging until he'd eaten it all very slowly. A glass of water and a cup of black tea later, and Bayla marched him upstairs to his room where she left him at the door saying, "Bed. And woe betide you if I find you awake when I come back!"

Dustin managed a genuine laugh before she left. He collapsed onto his bed, wondering how he could possibly go back to sleep as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again a moment later light was streaming through his curtained window and someone was banging on his door.

"Oi!" Tarak shouted. "Dusty, wake up! It's gone midday! Where the hell have you been!"

Dustin looked at the clock on his bedside table, and groaned.

"C'mon! We're setting up for the party! You can't be _that_ sick!"

A loud bang, and then a scuffle. Dustin dragged himself up and unlocked the door to have a look. Bayla was lying flat on the floor, looking dazed while Tarak leapt down the stairwell with Vidina hot on his heels, swearing loudly.

"What happened?" Dustin asked, crouching beside her when she made no move to get up.

"Call it intuition." She said. "I decided to check on you, and heard that _baka _shouting at you, so I leapt on him, and he threw me off, and I lost my breath because I was winded by the floor. And here you find me."

"I feel like I should be surprised, but I'm not." Dustin felt lighter than he had since before he had come to live with his Uncle.

Bayla twisted on the ground so she could see his face better. "You still alive then?"

"Yup."

"You coming to the party?"

"Yup."

"You feeling up to it?"

"Well, if you're supporting Vidina, then who's gonna give _you_ moral support?" he asked, grinning.

Bayla grinned back. "Leave the fist fighting to me, yeah?"

XOXOX

"I love three day weekends!" Deka laughed, running between the bookshelf and the table where Elodie and Shulay were hold their stake out on Besaid literature.

"Yippee." Tidus yawned widely. He had been offering them help in his free time between lessons, and only stopped joining them at lunchtime after Yuna and Lulu had ganged up on him and insisted that he needed to eat.

"Have you guys found anything?"

"Nope," El said, slamming another book shut and carelessly tossing it over her shoulder onto a pile of rejected material.

"It's been four days." Shulay said evenly. "Nothing worth achieving happens in short time."

Tidus managed a smile; the Zandal proverb was far more impressive in its native language. Someone knocked on the door, and an old priest came in smiling apologetically.

"Forgive me my boy," he addressed Tidus. "But everyone's gone to help the with the children and their bonfire tonight. A package is supposed to be arriving today from Luca. I need someone to fetch it…" Father Bren was getting on in years, and would never have made it down to the beach by himself.

"Sure thing," Tidus stood up and stretched.

"Can I come?" Deka asked, bouncing to his side.

"Sure! Let's go,"

"Oh, could you bring me some more paper while you're at it?" Elodie called after him as they left.

Father Bren smiled at him and said, "Thank you, I'm sorry to trouble you…"

"No trouble, really!" he smiled at the old man. He had once scolded Tidus for running head first into the Cloister of Trials, but over the years he had learned to forgive the stupid boy he had been, and become quite fond of their family. He had christened all three of his children.

They left the Temple and set off for the village gates; they wouldn't need to suit up since fiends were scare during the day, and they both knew enough magic between them in case they were attacked. Deka chattered about her classes and asked Tidus about his opinion on the debate topic her form had been given. They had to discuss the pros and cons of Old Yevon's system, and Deka had been randomly placed in the pros team. Tidus couldn't help her that much since he was deeply prejudiced against it, but they managed to cobble a few feeble arguments together that made them laugh.

"Maybe I'll just make my team lose…" Deka said vaguely as they jumped down onto the trail that split between the beach and the river gorge. "Bring it down from the inside…"

"Nah, it's not fair to your team mates." Tidus pointed out.

Deka thought about it as they walked onto the sand. "But none of them want to be on that team either. Everyone in my form is for the cons anyway!"

Tidus laughed. "Well, sometimes we have to stick our necks out for something we don't agree with."

"Zuo thinks we should blow the classroom up during the debate,"

"And I'll personally throttle him. Blowing things up never solved anything." Tidus recited, knowing full well he'd broken that rule too many times to count.

"What about Uncle Cid?" Deka asked, eyes wide and innocent. "He said he blew up Bevelle!"

"He didn't blow it _all_ up," Tidus said with a smirk. "Just bits of it."

"And he said _you_ helped." Deka went on with a grin.

"Yes, well your Great Uncle Cid says _many_ things…"

"Hey look!" Deka pointed at the pier, where a boat was just docking. "That must be it,"

Tidus gave her a shove and said, "Race ya!"

They tore across the beach, kicking up a sand storm behind them. They tied at the end, and ran into the baker's son on the pier. Ernie took turns with his two cousins to see to the loading and unloading of mail from the delivery boats. Today only two boxes needed sending off, and Tidus told the young man that he and Deka would see to the temple's post. Ernie gave him a thankful smile and ruffled Deka's hair before leaving.

Tidus was about to turn and leave when he saw Deka standing at the very end of the pier, staring off into the horizon. Tidus joined her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Dad?" she asked, watching the sea gently sway.

"Yeah?"

"It'll be all right, won't it?" she looked up at him, and he saw the unease he felt reflected in her eyes. "I mean, all the weird stuff going on. It'll sort itself out soon, right…?"

Tidus sighed. "I don't know." He told her honestly. "But, don't lose faith. I'm sure we'll be all right."

"Cause you and El and Wakka will beat the daylights out of anyone who comes near our family?" she asked, a flicker of mischief tipping the corner of her mouth up.

"Of course!" he said, but he leant down and stage whispered into her ear, "But don't let your mother know that she doesn't approve of violence!"

Deka giggled, and grinned up at him. With a pang, he realised how tall she was getting. He wondered how tall Bayla was now; how long her hair had grown since he had last seen her. He wondered if she was as worried about them as he was about her.

"C'mon, Bren'll be needing this," Tidus said, waving the package at Deka. She smiled up at him, and they turned to leave.

Just before they reached the sand, Deka stopped unexpectedly. Tidus stopped after a few paces and turned to look at her. She was frowning, squinting at something out in the bay.

"Wassup?"

"There's someone out there," she pointed.

He followed her gaze and saw someone treading water further out in the deeper part of the bay. It was hard to tell who it was – Tidus didn't recognise them, and nearly everyone in the village was setting up for the bonfire tonight. It was a small celebration that had existed for hundreds of years; it honoured those whose lives were taken by Sin. The rest of Spira celebrated on the anniversary of the Eternal Calm, in about a month's time, but Besaid still kept their traditions. He and Wakka used it as an excuse to drink during daylight hours.

"What are they _doing_?" Deka asked, as puzzled as Tidus.

"Who knows," he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go. If they need help they can get to shore and holler from there."

"But-" Deka stopped abruptly. She looked up her father, biting her lip. "It feels important…" she looked just as surprised by her words and Tidus felt.

"How so?"

"I…" Deka looked at her hands. "I…I don't know." She looked up at him again. "It's like…what mom says, you know? About the connections between us. I just feel a tug, here," she placed a hand over her solar plexus. "And here," she raised her hand to her heart. "I dunno what to do about it though." She looked scared of her own words.

Tidus enveloped her in a hug, and she clung to him. "Never be afraid of your instincts." He told her firmly. He held her out at arms length and looked her directly in the eye. "Remember, when all else fails, you follow your gut, no matter what anyone else says."

"So what should I do?" Deka asked.

Tidus tried to smile, but it probably looked a bit grim. "Stay behind me."

They both walked slowly onto the sandy beach, and across to the trail that wound homeward. Deka kept on watching the figure in the water, and as Tidus followed her example he saw two more figure emerge. Ideas and theories chased each other around his head; divers? lost blitzball trainers? spies? He prayed the old ghost stories told to Zandal children to scare them into behaving weren't true. One story was that the people who drowned didn't become spirits, but Sea Banshees, and they trapped hapless children who went swimming after dark alone. Of course, it was probably nonsense…

Tidus and Deka were close to the cliffs, further away from the water's edge when the three people came into earshot. It was hard to hear what was actually being said over the waves, but it was still just audible. Tidus made a point of positioning himself in front of his daughter, wishing vainly he had stopped to pick up Brotherhood before leaving. Deka peeked around his elbow, wide-eyed and nervous but intensely curious.

One of the people in the water had hung back to help another lagging behind, so the third pushed forward. They struggled a bit, but as soon as they reached waist high water they stopped swimming and stood up, wading through the shallows. It was at this point Tidus felt his jaw drop.

Long red cloak, dragging down and soaked through – he'd recognise it anywhere. As he recognised the greying hair and scarred face, even from this distance. The man trudged through the shallows and saw him; he gave that grim smirk of his, and continued on, the other two figures closing in behind him. Tidus took a step back, trying to get a grasp on the situation.

If that was _Auron_, then that must mean the other two were…

"Dad?" Deka tugged at his sleeve.

Tidus jumped and looked down at her over his shoulder. Deka gazed earnestly back. "It's okay," he said softly. Every single one of his senses was stretched to detect danger, but he didn't find any. All he found was an over whelming wash of nostalgia, and an even bigger smack of confusion.

Just…what the _hell_, if it really _was_ them, were they doing _here_, of all places?

The man in the red coat, which was hanging from his waist to reveal a black sleeveless shirt, made it out of the water completely, and just stood there, watching him.

Tidus cleared his throat and took a step forward, hesitantly.

A gruff chuckle.

"_Auron_?" he asked, disbelief colouring his voice. "Is that really _you_?"

"Long time no see." He said in his familiar voice. Tidus could have been ten years old again, it hadn't changed a bit.

Tidus took another step forward. "What are you _doing_ here?" he demanded.

Before Auron could respond, the other two crashed into the shallows behind him, and as the water receded they both came into focus. Tidus didn't know if he could seriously believe what he was seeing; maybe this was just a weird dream and he'd wake up any moment now.

Deka plucked at his sleeve, a warm presence against his back.

No, definitely not a dream.

Tidus' gaze slid from Auron to the two men behind him. One he had never met in person, but was so familiar with his statue in the temples that he couldn't not recognise him. And the other, he knew very well indeed. He sucked in breath, and was about to speak.

"Dad?"

Tidus looked down at Deka. She was leaning around his elbow, looking at the new comers. She slowly stepped out from behind him and walked into the gap between the two parties. Tidus reached out for her with his hand, but let her walk away from him. Deep in his heart, he knew it wasn't a trick; Deka had known it before he did. She just stood there on the sand, looking from face to face.

Eventually, Tidus walked up behind her, and place a hand on her shoulder. She raised a hand and laid it over his, and looked up, smiling. He smiled back down at her.

"Dad?" she said again, her voice ringing with certainty.

"Yeah?"

"My gut's now telling me I'm hungry."

XOXOX

As Jecht lounged on his son's sofa, he reflected that their return could have been a _bit_ more dramatic. Instead, they had gotten soaked through from being dumped in the ocean, and given Yuna a heart attack as they marched into her home unannounced.

Right now, she was sat at the small table in the centre of the room with Braska, and a gothic looking woman who had been introduced as Lulu. This woman seemed to have taken control of the situation, as Yuna appeared to still be in shock; everyone had a steaming mug of some beverage in front of them, and a pot of soup was simmering on the stove. Auron was nosing his way around the room, taking in every little detail. Jecht watched them all, waiting for Tidus to return; the space between them had felt awkward, and apart from a few short sentences, they hadn't spoken much. Another thing that was keeping Jecht silent and not complaining loudly about being made to wait, was that girl who had been on the beach – who had called Tidus 'Dad'.

It probably shouldn't have come as a surprise; over two decades had passed, after all. Still, looking upon his granddaughter had been a disconcerting experience. She had gone with Tidus to 'round everyone up'.

"Mom!"

They all looked up. The girl raced through the door, followed swiftly by a boy about the same age, with dark hair and dumbstruck eyes. A tall, red haired man followed, and gaped at Auron.

"What in the name of…?!"

"Sit down," Lulu said, patting the back of the chair next to her. "There's a lot to discuss.

"Auron?" he said weakly, collapsing into the proffered seat.

"Good to see you again, Wakka." Auron said with a gruff smile.

"Oh," Yuna gathered her wits enough to introduce the boy. "This is Zuo."

Braska smiled at him, then at the girl and said, "I don't believe we've heard _your_ name yet."

"I'm Deka," she said firmly.

Jecht smiled inwardly, though outwardly it must have translated as a smirk because Zuo fixed him with a stare. The resolve, even in just saying her name…Braska through and through.

Suddenly an ancient looking lady wearing all the signs of a Zandal elder bustled inside with Tidus right behind her. "Is that everyone?" he asked.

"Nee Mak." The old woman said, taking a chair next to Yuna. "J-airai jarr kemdan."

Jecht raised an eyebrow – he had always struggled with Zandal language.

Tidus growled with frustration. "Where the hell is she then?" he demanded in Spiran.

"Wasn't she in the temple?" Deka asked.

"I thought she was with Wakka," he gestured at the man.

"Haven't seen her all mornin', bud."

Suddenly, a loud voice came from outside, and in came yet another person Jecht only vaguely recognised and knew not their name. A tall, dark haired, dark skinned woman, _covered_ in tattoos and clearly a Zandal. She was looking at a stone tablet just a bit longer than her hand, and saying something in her own tongue as she stepped inside. Auron had meandered around the room, and was standing closest to the door at this point.

"El," Tidus said shortly, apparently thoroughly irritated. He carried himself the same way his mother used to when she got agitated. He even flicked his head to dispel a stray lock of hair from his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. But you've _gotta_ come see the scroll I found, I think it could be a good lead-" she looked up, and saw Auron standing next to her. For a moment her jaw dropped, and the world seemed to still completely

Then, several things happened at once. The woman screamed, and drew a dagger from a hidden sheath attached to her belt. Tidus leapt in-between them as Deka dived out of the way and flung herself at Lulu. The woman shouted something in Zandal, and Tidus yelled something back. For a moment, they stood there, panting and staring each other down.

"No trick." He said.

"What," she took an exaggerated step back, hands held high and dagger pointed downwards. "_What_ the hell is this?" she nodded at Auron, and then to Jecht and Braska.

For a moment, words failed him, but then Tidus took a deep breath and said to her boots, "I have no idea."

She sheathed her dagger and glowered at Auron. "And is that really you?"

"Who else?" Auron said in that careless 'I don't give a damn' way of his.

"You expect a Shaman mage to believe it just like that?" she snapped her fingers impatiently. "And _you_!" she rounded on Tidus. "Letting them into your home without verification! You _moron_,"

"Hey!" he snarled back.

"Ask me something, only I could know." Auron offered. Apparently, he was accustomed to seeing these two at each other's throats. Jecht suddenly realised he was on his feet; he must have jumped up when Tidus barrelled into her way.

"All right." She raised her chin high. "What did I say to you on Mt Gagazet before the descent into Zanarkand?"

"You said that I was a grumpy old git, despite being such a strong guide."

She chewed it over for a moment before stepping forward and shaking his hand. "Welcome back. And what the hell are you doing here?"

"It's a long story." Auron said in his stoic tone.

"Well, I don't know about this lot," she motioned to the assembled group. "But I have some time kicking about to spend."

XOXOX

Yuna watched the fire burn bright, in the middle of the Summoner's Circle, the centre of the village. Deka and Zuo were somewhere in the crowd with Lulu; Wakka and Elodie were skipping the celebrations to dig in the archives for more information. Shulay was keeping her father, Jecht and Auron out of sight – even if Jecht and Auron went unseen, her father would certainly be recognised; everyone was familiar with the statue that stood in the temple behind her. Tidus had joined her on the steps, but he was watching one of the priests telling the children a story, rather than the flames.

Yuna laid her cheek on his shoulder, and his arm tightened around her.

"I'm not sure what to think." She told him honestly. Her mind was still reeling.

"Me neither." His voice was low; steady – which in Tidus signified deep trains of thought. He must be trying to puzzle everything out.

"First the festival…" Yuna murmured. "Then the tablet and the prophecy. And now…"

"Deka said today," he cut across her. There was even more on his mind. "Before they got onto the beach. She felt a tug or something, here…and here," he motioned to his stomach, and then to his heart. "She's more intuitive than I thought."

Yuna smiled, despite the situation. She had known since the day she had been born that Dekan Memo was special, beyond just being her flesh and blood. She had always had a knack for magicks.

"I'm worried…" Tidus' eyes tightened, and he made a point of avoiding Yuna's gaze. His thoughts were tumbling down a new avenue, one that boded ill. "It's like a tension in the air."

"I thought that was the weather." Yuna frowned. It had been mounting all day, but the rainy season wasn't too far off, and she had thought the low level headaches were just precursors to an early thunderstorm.

"Hey…" Tidus looked her straight in the face, his eyes clouded as he tried to hide his motive. "You know Luca bangs on about health and all that?"

"Yesss…?" Yuna wasn't buying it.

"Well, I thought, maybe…since we've got a couple of days off, maybe we should take the kids to go have those blood tests the doctors have been nagging us all about for months."

Luca had a small hospital where most people ended up for operations and long-term care. Healers and doctors in Besaid and Kilika were normally reluctant to send people away from home unless it was absolutely necessary. There was some initiative The Al Bhed had started for blood testing for groups or 'bands' of people with similar blood types. Luca was asking for people to step forward of their own accord to take part. Tidus had never shown any real interest in it until now.

"Why so suddenly?" Yuna pried.

Tidus turned from her to stare at the fire. "Several reasons." He said. When she didn't speak, he went on with a sigh. "I need to clear my head. It'll give the twins some space too; El will have more peace to keep searching, and…" he frowned deeply.

"What?" Yuna asked, her nerves mounting.

"It…just feels like the right thing to do." He said eventually. "Like, we _have_ to go. Something's brewing here, maybe if we just go for a day or something…maybe we'd miss it?"

Yuna smiled sadly. He wasn't totally convinced either. "You're sure?"

"Remember how I begged Rikku not to go on the hover to Mushroom Rock Road? She always sat right at the back of those ones with the roofs. And then when she didn't go that time, and a tree fell on the hover, and it crushed the back end where she would have been sitting."

Yuna remembered quite vividly; he had literally got on his knees to convince Rikku not to go on her trip to Djose. She also remembered the look on Rikku's face when they heard what had happened to the hover.

"When were you thinking of going?"

"Tomorrow too soon?"

"Not at all."

XOXOX

Nooj looked up into the sky, choked by black fumes that spouted from the crater in the middle of the temple courtyard. The attack had come out of nowhere; he had been talking to the Al Bhed who ran the faction here in Djose, when the ship had started firing.

People were still screaming; a group had started ferrying the wounded to the medical centre. Some were screaming for fear, others in agony. It tore at Nooj's heart as he saw a woman crouched by the rocky wall of the gorge with a child in her arms, howling her sorrow while a man desperately tried to get her to move. There had already been two rockslides, and they were situated quite dangerously close to an unstable overhang. While the woman wailed for her dead or dying child, it reminded Nooj how painfully close Andi had been to coming with him until Leblanc had dissuaded her. Thank the Fayth for that.

But the _why_ of the attack…it had been too sudden, unprovoked, and by a ship that bore no markings – just black like pitch. A group of masked gunmen had stormed the temple and the living quarters; five people had been killed where they stood, and countless lay injured in the corridors.

It was obvious that they had been looking for someone, but _who_? Nooj had come outside for fresh air and to clear his head so he could _think_, but the scene of carnage outside didn't help.

"Sir?"

Nooj turned and looked into the face of a young man bearing New Yevon's symbol. His arm was bound in a bloodied sling, and a bandage had been wrapped around his head; he walked with a slight limp, but it didn't seem to slow him down too much.

"I have a letter that arrived here yesterday for you," he held up heavy yellow envelope. "Sorry, I only just found it…"

Nooj took it from him. "Are you all right?"

"Better than some," he looked ashen, as though he had just been sick. "We're all in shock." He had that blank look the younger recruits would get after a battle, as though their minds couldn't quite register the horror of what had happened.

Nooj slitted the envelope open and pulled out the letter, written in Baralai's hand. His writing was normal firm and even, but this was spidery, as though he had written in with great haste and was in an emotional state at the time. What he read made the blood drain from his face.

A young Youth League member was running across the courtyard with two large boxes of medical supplies in his hands. Nooj flagged him down and the lad ran to him at once. "Ignore this," he said to the boxes. "Take this letter with you to the communication room and get the message to New Home as soon as you can. _Do you understand me_?"

"Sir, yes Sir!" the boy barked, shaking like a leaf in the aftermath of the attack. He snatched the letter and ran to the temple doors as though Sin itself was on his heels.

Nooj bent down to pick up the discarded boxes and lifted them awkwardly as he handled his crutch, unable to see in front of him. Someone took the top one from him, and he found himself looking into the face of a young, very petite woman. She smiled despite the situation.

"Need a hand?"

"Thanks," he grunted.

"I'll take the other one too," she offered, and he didn't protest as she nimbly removed it from his grasp.

She was small and slender, with very long red-gold hair. With the twisting vines tattooed on her arms, and the black streaks in her braided hair that ended with a plume of stiff owl feathers, it didn't take long to work out she was a Zandal Mage of some description.

"Get them to the people who need it." Nooj told her gruffly.

"Sir, I think you could do with a trip to the Meds too." She said, cutting through his façade.

The cut above his eye had stopped bleeding, and his robotic leg had taken a bullet. The man who had shot him was one of the three enemy gunners who had been taken down during the attack.

"I'm fine, others need it more urgently. Go."

She didn't argue; she bowed her head respectfully before turning on her heel and vanishing into the crowd of people gathering outside the temple.

Nooj walked painfully slowly towards a man arguing with a Guado about launching a counter attack on the enemy ship. They stopped as he drew near. "You there," the man was a League member. "Can you get that ship moving?"

The craft was small, only big enough for five people at a squeeze.

"Y-yes Sir, but we can't fight a ship that big!" he pleaded.

"No. I need to get to Besaid. As quickly as possible."

"Yes Sir!" he barked, and made off to prepare for flight.

The Guado stared at him as though he were insane. "But the ship went north!" he exclaimed. "Why are you going south in the opposite direction?"

"Never mind that," Nooj snapped, limping after the pilot. "Tell the Al Bhed where I'm going."

Nooj just prayed that he made it in time.

XOXOX


End file.
